UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned the decision of Israel's Higher Planning Committee to approve more than 3,400 housing units in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief, in a statement.

"Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are a violation of international law and run directly counter to UN resolutions," the statement said.

"The advancement of this project is an existential threat to the two-State solution. It would sever the northern and southern West Bank and have severe consequences for the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory," it added.

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The secretary-general reiterated his call for the Israeli government to immediately halt all settlement activity and to comply fully with its obligations under international law and to act in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and in line with the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of July 19, 2024, it added.

Israel's Higher Planning Council on Wednesday authorized 3,753 housing units, including 3,401 for final approval in the E1 neighborhood of Ma'ale Adumim. The project would link settlements to create a continuum separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem.

Also on Wednesday, Israel's West Bank settlement expansion plan negatively affects Palestinians and increases the risk of displacement, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the more than 3,000 housing units scheme for settlers as part of the E1 plan would essentially cut off the northern and central West Bank from the south, leading to a devastating humanitarian impact.

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OCHA said the wider occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) would feel the effect, with 18 Palestinian Bedouin communities put at a higher risk of displacement.

"This plan also involves the construction of a bypass road diverting Palestinian traffic away from the main Jerusalem-Jericho road," the office said. "In this context, OCHA notes that such roads undermine territorial contiguity, increase travel times, and negatively affect people's livelihoods and access to services."

OCHA also said that a longstanding Israeli plan to encircle the E1 area with additional sections of the wall would further deepen restrictions on movement and access, and run counter to the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion of 2004 that all sections of that security barrier already built within the OPT must be dismantled.

The humanitarian office said that in the Gaza Strip, the situation is increasingly dire, with children and adults killed, injured and displaced every single day. Starvation and malnutrition also continue to deepen. The United Nations and its partners are sparing no effort to bring critical food and other supplies into Gaza to avert further catastrophe.

"It is critical that the Israeli authorities facilitate humanitarian operations, including shelter support, wherever people are, including Gaza City and in the north of the strip," the office said.

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OCHA said that its partners estimated that 1.4 million people require 3,500 truckloads of tents, tarpaulins and basic household items.

It added that its partners reported that restrictions on international non-governmental organizations and the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees continue to block shelter deliveries.