UNSC working on draft statement over Israel-Palestine conflict
May 17, 2021
New York [US], May 17 (ANI/Sputnik): The UN Security Council is currently working on a draft statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that entered its second week, a diplomatic source at the Security Council told Sputnik on Monday.
On Sunday, the council met for an emergency meeting over the deadly fighting in Gaza and Jerusalem. However, at the end of the session, the UN's global body for ensuring international peace failed to speak in one voice for the necessity of ending the confrontation.
"The work at the Security Council on the draft statement is ongoing," the source said.
In the draft, seen by Sputnik, the UN Security Council expresses "grave concern" regarding the tensions in Gaza and deaths among the civilian population. It calls for a cessation of violence and stresses the need to provide aid to the Palestinians immediately.
The council also welcomes all diplomatic efforts to lower tensions and to reach a ceasefire deal, including from the Middle East Quartet.
The UN Security Council last week held three meetings on the current situation in the Middle East. All previous attempts by the council to conclude the meetings with a concrete result - a statement - were blocked by the United States.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington has been working hard through its diplomatic channels behind closed doors to end the hostilities.
The current escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began earlier this month when unrest began in East Jerusalem over an Israeli court's decision to evict several Palestinian families from the area.
The situation on the border between Israel and the Palestinian enclave Gaza Strip has been deteriorating for the past week amid heavy rocket exchanges that have resulted in the death of nearly 200 Palestinians, including 58 children. Israel has reported 10 people killed and 50 others seriously injured, while the Palestinian Red Crescent says that more than 1,300 Palestinians have been injured amid tensions with Israel. (ANI/Sputnik)
