Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei has called on the UN Security Council to take action against the Israeli regime’s atrocities and to oblige Tel Aviv to abide by international law, Press TV reports.

Khazaei, who also serves as the chairman of the coordination center of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council president on Thursday.

During the meeting, the Iranian envoy pressed for more practical steps on the part of the UN to make the Israeli regime accountable for its actions against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories.

    “From a regime that has been created by pressure and is taking the lands of people and also killing people, you cannot expect more than this. That is a problem… We need more action to take place by the United Nations Security Council against Israel’s crimes against humanity as well as the Palestinians,” Khazaei said.

The Tel Aviv regime has increased its illegal settlement expansion following an upgrade of Palestine’s status at the UN to a non-member observer state on November 29, 2012.

The Israeli regime plans to build more than 5,000 new settler units in East al-Quds, despite objections from the international community.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds. Much of the international community considers the settlements illegal.

In January, the United Nations called on the Israeli regime to cease all its settlement activities without preconditions in compliance with article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. However, Tel Aviv has remained defiant.

On December 19, 2012, the UN secretary general warned that Tel Aviv’s continued settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories could inflict “an almost fatal blow” to future talks between Palestinians and Israelis.