Palestinian envoy: ‘What pink line does Israel have to cross for the Safety Council to lastly say, sufficient is sufficient?’
United Nation’s Safety Council members voiced concern and confused the necessity to keep the established order on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, however didn't decide to any motion days after Israel’s new far-right safety minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made a controversial go to to the positioning, which Palestinian leaders known as “an unprecedented provocation”.
The decades-old established order on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound permits solely Muslim worship on the website, which is Islam’s third-holiest after Mecca and Medina.
However the website can be revered by Jews, who name it the Temple Mount. Israel’s far-right teams have lengthy tried to alter the established order and permit Jewish prayer on the website. Calls have additionally been made by the far proper for a Jewish temple to be constructed instead of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour pushed for the Safety Council on Thursday to take motion in opposition to Israel over Ben-Gvir’s provocative actions. Israel’s new safety minister is well-known for racist incitement in opposition to Arabs, opposition to Palestinian statehood, and for main raids by settlers into the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
“What pink line does Israel have to cross for the Safety Council to lastly say, sufficient is sufficient?” Mansour requested the 15-member council, accusing Israel of displaying “absolute contempt”.
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from UN headquarters in New York, mentioned Safety Council members had expressed concern in regards to the scenario on the Al Aqsa compound and the hazards of escalation “however their phrases had been measured and restricted, with little direct criticism of Israel”.
The Palestinian ambassador, Bays mentioned, expressed his dismay that the council was taking no motion and warned the council that the scenario might flip into an rebellion.
“All 15 members of the Safety Council restated, as they at all times do, their dedication to a two-state answer. Nevertheless, in latest days, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mentioned his new authorities helps continued settlement throughout Palestinian land, additional undermining that internationally-desired final result,” Bays mentioned.
A senior UN political affairs official, Khaled Khiari, instructed the council assembly that it was the primary go to to the positioning by an Israeli cupboard minister since 2017.
“Whereas the go to was not accompanied or adopted by violence, it's seen as significantly inflammatory given Mr Ben-Gvir’s previous advocacy for modifications to the established order,” he mentioned.
Ben-Gvir as soon as known as for ending the ban on Jewish prayer on the website however he has been non-committal on the problem since aligning with Netanyahu. Different members of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Energy occasion nonetheless advocate such a transfer.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN slammed the Safety Council assembly as “pathetic” and “absurd”.
Forward of the session, the Israeli consultant, Gilad Erdan. instructed reporters there was “completely no motive” for the assembly to be held.
“To carry a Safety Council session on a non-event is really absurd,” he mentioned.
Erdan mentioned Ben-Gvir’s go to was “consistent with the established order and whoever claims in any other case is barely inflaming the scenario”.
“To assert that this temporary and utterly legit go to ought to result in an emergency Safety Council session is pathetic,” he mentioned.
Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which have peace treaties with Israel, condemned what they known as Ben-Gvir’s “storming” of Al-Aqsa.
Amman summoned the Israeli ambassador and mentioned the go to had violated worldwide regulation and “the historic and authorized established order in Jerusalem”.
Saudi Arabia, with which Netanyahu desires to forge a peace deal, additionally criticised Ben-Gvir. Turkey, which has just lately ended a long-running diplomatic rift with Israel, additionally condemned the go to as “provocative”.
The USA, which is dedicated to a two-state answer to the battle between Israel and the Palestinians, mentioned it was “involved by any unilateral acts that exacerbate tensions or undermine the viability of a two-state answer”, the US’s deputy UN ambassador, Robert Wooden, instructed the council on Thursday.
“We observe that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing platform requires preservation of the established order with relation to the holy locations. We anticipate the federal government of Israel to comply with by on that dedication,” Wooden mentioned.
The UN Safety Council has adopted a number of resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian battle over time and helps the two-state answer to peace within the Center East.
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