Ramallah, April 13 (RHC)-- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements.  The Palestinians are already discussing a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Abbas spoke ahead of an international tour that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas said in an interview with AFP.  He added that settlement construction in the West Bank "is something that has seriously jeopardized the two-state project."

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions on Israel at the UN Security Council.

Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

The United Nations says some 75,000 Palestinians are still internally displaced in the Gaza Strip less than two years after the Israeli military’s 50-day war on the besieged enclave.