The contentious visit of a far-right Israeli minister to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem that has enraged Palestine, the Middle East, and nations outside of the region will be the topic of discussion at the UN Security Council meeting.
The United Arab Emirates and China have requested that the 15-member council meet on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
There have been concerns that Israel’s new national security minister, controversial Itamar Ben-Gvir, could start a war during his visit on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reiterated that the Secretary General “calls on all to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around Jerusalem.”
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, stated, “It is the international community that decides the fate of defending and protecting the historic status quo in Jerusalem in the defense of the Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem.”
“We will not be satisfied with beautiful statements made in the Security Council tomorrow.” Mansour stated, “We want them to be implemented in a concrete way.”
The third holiest site in Islam is Al Aqsa Mosque, which is in East Jerusalem, which has been annexed by Israel.
Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount because it is their most sacred location.
Non-Muslims are permitted to visit the location at specific times, but they are not permitted to pray there, according to a long-standing rule.
Illegal settler leader’s controversial visit
Palestine has criticized the fact that an increasing number of Israeli nationalists and illegal settlers have secretly prayed at the compound in recent years.
The fragile arrangement at Jerusalem’s sacred sites has been the subject of warnings from a number of nations.
The visit of Ben-Gvir sparked outrage across the globe, including from the United States, a long-time ally of Israel.
Over the years, the UN Security Council has supported the two-state Middle East peace solution and passed several resolutions condemning Israel’s occupation of Palestine’s land.
Ben-Gvir and his allies want to give Israeli soldiers who shoot at Palestinians immunity, deport opposition lawmakers, and execute Palestinians who attack Jews or illegal settlers.
Ben-Gvir is a follower of racist rabbi Meir Kahane, whose Kach party was labeled a terrorist organization by the United States prior to his assassination in New York in 1990. Kahane was banned from Parliament.
Ben Gvir, a trained lawyer, first gained notoriety for representing young Jewish extremists accused of terror and hate crimes.
He represented two young extremists in 2016 who were accused of killing a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank village of Duma after setting fire to their home.
The case of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents being killed by Molotov cocktails thrown into their homes sparked international outrage and resulted in an indictment; however, the majority of settler violence against Palestinians is rarely prosecuted.
In the occupied West Bank, Ben-Gvir himself resides in an illegal settlement near Hebron.
Source: AFP
