PRESS

Mimouni urges Security Council to find lasting solution to Palestinian issue

NEW YORK (UNITED NATIONS) -The Security Council must find a lasting solution to the Palestinian issue and assure its historic and legal responsibilities in this regard, said Tuesday Algeria's United Nations (UN) Permanent Representative, Ambassador Sofiane Mimouni.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Palestine's Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, Mimouni said unequivocally that the crimes committed by Israel against the worshippers of Al Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan, the expulsion of the inhabitants of Al Quds, especially in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, from their homes, and its policy of colonization are at the root of the escalation of violence in Palestine.

Sofiane Mimouni, who chairs the Arab Group at the UN, explained that in the face of the inertia of the Security Council and its inability to adopt a document on the repression suffered by the Palestinian people, the Group decided to call for an emergency meeting of the General Assembly, which also has a role to play in accordance with the Charter of the Nations.

This meeting should address the situation in Palestine where Israeli bombings have so far killed 219 people, including 63 children.

However, he said that this meeting does not exempt the Security Council to find a quick solution to this escalation of violence and to fully assume its moral responsibilities.

Requesting a meeting of the UN GA does not mean abandoning the track of the Security Council, he assured.

The meeting will also be an opportunity to pool efforts to end violence against the Palestinian people and to revive the political process aimed at achieving a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue.

In view of the seriousness of the situation, the Arab Group has undertaken several steps to mobilize the international community. The Troika of the Arab Group met with the Chief of Staff of the UN Secretary General, in the absence of the latter in New York, in order to seek a personal commitment from him to end violence.