Top Official on Middle East Peace Process Spotlights Continued Violence, Settlement Activities in Briefing to Security Council Format Speakers Also Discuss Diplomatic Thaw, Resumed Israeli-Palestinian Coordination The United Nations official on Middle East peace updated the Security Council today on developments in the region, highlighting continued violence, including against civilians and children, as well as Israel’s ongoing settlement-related activity in the occupied West Bank. Briefing via videoconference, Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, emphasized that the global community “must persevere in its efforts to prevent violent escalation in the region and encourage leaders on both sides to takes steps towards enabling a return to negotiations, not a retrenchment of conflict”.