Report breaks new ground on the UN's examination of the situation in occupied Palestine by using the word 'apartheid'.

A new United Nations report accuses Israel of having established "an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole".

The publication comes amid renewed debate about whether, through its settlement policy and rejection of Palestinian self-determination, the Israeli government is creating - or even has already created - a de facto "one-state", which critics warn would constitute a form of apartheid.

It urged governments to "support boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS] activities and respond positively to calls for such initiatives".

The report - Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid - was commissioned and published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and launched in Beirut.

John Reynolds, a lecturer in law at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, told Al Jazeera the report "breaks new ground in the context of the UN's analysis of the situation in Palestine".

Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon issued a statement condemning the report late on Wednesday.

UN report: Israel has established an 'apartheid regime'