New York: Leaders on all sides of the Palestinian question must help lower the flames of tension and maintain the status quo of Jerusalem’s holy sites, a United Nations (UN) official appealed during his address to the Security Council on Thursday.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, addressed the 15-member body in the aftermath of Israel’s new Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir’s January 3 visit to the holy sites in Jerusalem, along with a heavy security detail.
The visit is seen as particularly inflammatory given the Minister’s past advocacy for changes to the status quo, he pointed out.
Also noting that this was the first visit to the site by an Israeli minister since 2017, he added that the visit was sharply condemned by the Palestinian Authority and others as a provocation while Israel’s Prime Minister as well as senior Government officials emphasized commitment to upholding the status quo.
"Leaders on all sides have a responsibility to lower the flame and create the conditions for calm," he stressed.
Warning that any incident or tension at the holy sites can spill over and cause violence throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in Israel, and elsewhere in the region, he reiterated the Secretary-General’s call for all parties to refrain from escalations and uphold the status quo.
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