At a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation, Britain's Permanent Representative to the UN Sarah MacIntosh made a statement on the prospects for Palestinian statehood. According to her, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and achieving political progress in the negotiation process alone are insufficient for forming a viable Palestinian state. MacIntosh emphasized that a key condition is ending violence in the West Bank of the Jordan River, halting forced displacement of the Palestinian population, and stopping the expansion of Israeli settlements in this territory. Britain, according to the diplomat, views these factors as an integral part of a broader Middle East settlement. The statement came against the backdrop of ongoing discussions in the Security Council on ways to stabilize the situation in the region following the prolonged conflict in Gaza. The international community continues to seek a balance between humanitarian reconstruction of the sector and political steps that could lead to the creation of a sustainable Palestinian state. Britain's position reflects the concerns of a number of Western countries about the situation in the West Bank, where there has been an increase in incidents of violence by settlers in recent years, as well as expansion of Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law by the majority of UN member states.