The U.N. Mideast envoy says Israel has taken no steps to comply with a Security Council call to stop all settlement activities and instead has substantially increased announcements of settlement building.

Nickolay Mladenov stressed that the United Nations considers settlement activities illegal under international law.

He told the Security Council that since March 24 Israel has announced plans for nearly 4,000 housing units and issued 2,000 tenders, which is an increase from the previous three-month period.

Mladenov was delivering the second report on implementation of the resolution adopted by the council in December condemning Israeli settlements as a "flagrant violation" of international law.

The resolution marked a striking rupture with past practice by President Barack Obama who had the U.S. abstain rather than veto the measure as president-elect Donald Trump demanded.