Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Front) addresses a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East situation at the UN headquarters in New York, on Feb. 20, 2018. Abbas told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that "Israel shut the door on the two-state solution." (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that "Israel shut the door on the two-state solution."

"Israel is acting like a state above the law," Abbas said in his address to the Security Council, adding that the Israeli government caused the failure of all past efforts to reach peace.

The Security Council convened Tuesday for its monthly meeting. The item on the agenda is the Middle East situation, including the "Palestinian question."

Abbas also warned that the "U.S. administration took an unlawful decision" when it decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, 2017 and set in motion a plan to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which has drawn strong criticism from Arab and European countries.