The UN Security Council will debate the "
Palestinian question
" on Thursday, January 4, the United Nations announced on Wednesday, the day after an international outcry caused by the visit of an Israeli minister to the esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem. -Is.
Confirming what diplomats had been talking about for several hours, the UN formalized in a brief statement that the 15 member states of the Security Council would meet Thursday at 3 p.m. (9 p.m. in France) to discuss the "
situation in the Middle East, in particular the Palestinian question
.
Read alsoEsplanade des Mosques: Turkey condemns the “provocative” visit of the Israeli minister
“Importance of maintaining the status quo”
During his daily press briefing, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, repeated what his deputy had said on Tuesday: Antonio Guterres “
calls on all parties to refrain from taking measures that can escalate tensions in and around Jerusalem
.”
The United Nations, whose Security Council has already adopted several resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reaffirmed on Tuesday “
the importance of maintaining the status quo in holy places
”.
The third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism known as the "
Temple Mount
", the Esplanade of the Mosques is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Palestinian sector occupied and annexed by Israel.
Under a historic status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but cannot pray there.
However, in recent years, a growing number of Jews, often nationalists, surreptitiously pray there, a gesture denounced as a “
provocation
” by the Palestinians and several countries in the Middle East.
Read alsoEsplanade of the mosques: France expresses its “concern”
Figure of the Israeli far right and new Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir made a brief visit to this esplanade of the Mosques on Tuesday, raising a wave of international condemnation, including from the United States, the historic ally of Israel. Israel.