Washington, New York – The U.N. Security Council has voted in favor of a resolution demanding the halt of settlement activity by Israel on occupied Palestinian territory with the U.S. notably abstaining from voting.

The resolution was put forward at the 15-member council for a vote on Friday by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt withdrew it under pressure from Israel and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

Israeli settlements are major obstacle against peace efforts because they are established on occupied territory that the Palestinians are demanding it to be within their upcoming state.

Commenting on the international resolution, Spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority Nabil Abu Rudaina said that the resolution is “a big blow to Israeli policy, an unanimous international condemnation of settlements and a strong support for the two-state solution.”

Egypt stepping back from submitting the project to voting in the Security Council did not prevent members of Security Council from voting in favor of it after being put forward for voting by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal.

The resolution declared that it will not acknowledge any changes on the 1967 borders, including in East Jerusalem, unless these were agreed upon among parties within negotiations. It also urged to halt all settlement activities in order to save the two-state solution.

A call for prompt cease of violent activities against civilians was also made, “including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction…

The resolution also compelled “all parties to continue, in the interest of the promotion of peace and security, to exert collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process and within the time frame specified by the Quartet in its statement of 21 September 2010.