UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov warned Tuesday that the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state has been systematically eroded.

"Over time, the possibility of establishing a viable, contiguous Palestinian state has been systematically eroded by facts on the ground," Mladenov told the UN Security Council's quarterly open debate on the Middle East, which focused as usual on Israel and Palestine.

The envoy said that during the reporting period, "Israeli authorities have advanced, approved or tendered over 3,100 housing units" planned in Area C (an administrative division of the West Bank, set out in the Oslo II Accord) settlements.

"Meanwhile, we have seen additional attempts to pass legislation that would directly apply Israeli law to the territory of the occupied West Bank, raising fears of future annexation," he added.

In December, the Israeli government endorsed a bill to advance the legalization of some 66 illegal outposts throughout the West Bank within two years, he said.

In early January, Israeli security forces evacuated dozens of settlers from mobile homes illegally installed at the site of the former Amona outpost, at the same time, a government team has been tasked with legalizing outposts and housing units built illegally in settlements, including under Israeli law, he said.

Demolitions and seizures of Palestinian-owned structures also continued across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, said the envoy.

"I reiterate the United Nations' long-standing position that settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace," Mladenov noted.

Turning to problems on the Palestinian side, Mladenov said that despite the tireless efforts of Egypt and the United Nations, "hopes for a genuine intra-Palestinian reconciliation are fading by the day as the sides blame each other for the lack of progress."

"As ever, ordinary Palestinians bear the brunt of the suffering. The gap between Gaza and the West Bank is widening again," he added.

The early January arrests by Hamas of dozens of Fatah members in Gaza "were particularly alarming" and led to Palestinian Authority to withdraw its personnel from the Rafah crossing on Jan. 7, he said.

"These developments are a very serious blow to the reconciliation process," he said.

"I call on Palestinian leaders to engage constructively with Egypt and act decisively to resolve the political impasse by ensuring the full implementation of the 2017 Cairo Agreement," he said.

"One thing is certain, Palestinian sovereignty and statehood will remain an impossibility without genuine unity. There can be no state in Gaza and no state without Gaza," he added.

The period has witnessed an increasing number of Israeli military operations in Areas A and B of the West Bank. In Ramallah and elsewhere, the almost daily confrontations with Israeli security forces "fuel anger" and "have raised questions among Palestinians as to the viability and relevance of the structures created under the Oslo Accords," he added.

The meeting was originally planned for last Tuesday, Jan. 15. However, it was rescheduled because it clashed with a ceremony related to Palestine's assumption of the 2019 chair of the G77 and China, a bloc of 134 countries focused on economic development. Enditem

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