A United Nations Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously in 1967.

A United Nations Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously in 1967, calls for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the West Bank. The U.S. government has, for years, referred to the West Bank as an occupied territory subject to the jurisdiction of both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

The West Bank has been primarily inhabited by Palestinian Arabs, but Israeli citizens began moving into and establishing settlements in areas throughout the occupied territory following the Six-Day War. These settlements have often been a point of contention in the long-running Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with opponents arguing that the settlements increasingly carve into territory claimed by the Palestinian people and undermine efforts at a two-state solution.

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution in 2016 declaring these Israeli settlements to be a “flagrant violation” of international law. Fourteen of the 15 U.N. Security Council members supported the 2016 resolution. The United States, which is one of five permanent members on the U.N. Security Council with veto power, abstained from the vote.