Egypt urges Israel at UN Security Council to stop its unilateral actions

MENA , Ahram Online , Friday 20 Jan 2023

Egypt has called on Israel at the United Nations Security Council to stop its unilateral actions, warning that those actions undermine the two-state solution.

main
Egypt s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Osama Abdel-Khalek during a quarterly open debate held by the UNSC on the Palestinian issue on Wednesday. Photo : Egyptian Foreign Ministry

 

The statement was delivered by Egypt's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Osama Abdel-Khalek during a quarterly open debate held by the UNSC on the Palestinian issue on Wednesday

The permanent representative said that Israel’s unilateral actions include continued settlement activities, violence against Palestinian civilians and demolition of Palestinian homes.

Egypt also underlined the need for Israel to avoid measures that would change the legal status quo in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, which is considered an occupied Palestinian territory.

Abdel-Khalek voiced Egypt's total rejection of the storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli officials, according to a statement by Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

He also has warned of the negative repercussions of these measures on the security and stability in the occupied lands and the region and on the future of the peace process, according to the foreign ministry.

The permanent representative also called on all parties to exercise self-restraint, act responsibly and refrain from any measures that could inflame the situation, it added.

He referred to the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories during 2022, saying that the UN described 2022 as the "deadliest year since 2006" in the West Bank due to the continuous increase in violence, according to the statement.

Earlier Thursday, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry stressed the need to preserve the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen.

He also stressed the need to work to revive the peace process as soon as possible, given that it is the only way to achieve the two-state solution.

Shoukry’s phone call with Cohen and Egypt’s statement in front of the Security Council come two days after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II held a trilateral summit in Cairo. The meeting called for an end to all Israeli illegitimate and unilateral actions.

The summit stressed that such unilateral actions that undermine the two-state solution and the chances of achieving fair and comprehensive peace must stop.

The three leaders called on the international community to protect the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.

They also came amid Israeli escalation and provocative acts in the West Bank and Jerusalem under the new extreme-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu and proposed Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley, a step that will certainly draw Arab and international rejection. 

 

Short link: