NEW YORK — The cessation of hostilities negotiated last month between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, remains “very fragile,” the UN envoy there told the Security Council on Thursday. “The UN is working closely with all concerned parties and partners...to solidify a ceasefire, allow the entry of urgent humanitarian assistance and stabilize the situation in Gaza,” Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said, referring to the conflict that erupted between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the occupied enclave.  The ceasefire was declared on May 20, after 11 days of rocket and air attacks across the border area between Gaza and southern Israel, leaving more than 240 reportedly dead, the majority on the Palestinian side, with thousands injured. More than 230 Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli fire, and at least 12 were killed in Israel, as Hamas and other extremist groups, unleashed rocket attacks. Wennesland urged all sides to “refrain from unilateral steps and provocations” and reduce tensions. “Everyone must do their part to facilitate ongoing discussions to stabilize the situation on the ground and avoid another devastating escalation in Gaza”. Before updating the Council on recent developments, the UN envoy congratulated Israeli’s new coalition government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, with hopes of advancing a two-State solution and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. More casualties Turning to reports of more violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), he said that since May 3, five Palestinians had been killed and some 100 others injured by live ammunition in the West Bank. And on June 15 during a right-wing Israeli activist march through Jerusalem’s Old City, 66 Palestinians, including 12 children, were injured by rubber bullets and physical assaults while rallies throughout the Gaza Strip by national Islamic forces had seen further incendiary balloon attacks, launched towards Israel. Settlements Citing Resolution 2334 of 2016, whereby the Security Council demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities,” the Special Coordinator said he remained “deeply troubled” by continued Israeli settlement expansion. He was particularly concerned over a plan to expand the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem and by new settlement outposts, which he pointed out were also illegal under Israeli law. “Israeli settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law,” Wennesland reminded. “They are a major obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”. “The advancement of all settlement activity must cease immediately,” he said. Deepening divisions Against the backdrop of an “alarming increase” in violence between Israelis and Palestinians, “at a scale and intensity not seen in years,” the UN Coordinator expressed special concern over what he described as an attempt to “exploit the sensitive status of Jerusalem,” to justify a broader armed conflict. He said this had only “deepened the divisions” and made progress toward peace “an even greater challenge,” appealing for an immediate halt. “Perpetrators of violence on all sides must be held accountable and swiftly brought to justice,” he said, adding that the authorities on both sides must carry out “thorough, independent, impartial and prompt investigations into all instances of possible excessive use of force”.