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The UN Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss a controversial visit by an Israeli minister to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, which has angered Palestinians.
At the request of the United Arab Emirates and China, the 15-member council will meet at UN Headquarters in New York at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT).
There are fears that a visit by Israel’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, on Tuesday could spark a war.
Located in East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. It is the holiest site for the Jewish people and is known as the Temple Mount.
Under the longstanding status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at certain times but are not allowed to pray there.
In recent years, a growing number of Jews, most of them Israeli nationalists, have prayed secretly in the compound, a development that has been condemned by Palestinians.
Western governments have warned such a move would threaten the fragile arrangements at Jerusalem’s holy sites.
Ben-Gvir’s visit sparked a wave of international condemnation, including from the United States, Israel’s longtime ally.
Stephen Dujarric, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, reiterated on Wednesday that the secretary-general “called on all to refrain from measures that could increase tensions in and around Jerusalem.”
Over the years, the UN Security Council has adopted multiple resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supporting a two-state solution for peace in the Middle East.
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