All 15 members of the UN Security Council condemned Friday’s deadly terrorist attack in East Jerusalem during an emergency session set a day earlier to discuss a deadly IDF raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin, United two diplomats from the nation told The Times of Israel.
The meeting was the second emergency session the council has held on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the hardline government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power late last month.
Had the session been held 24 hours earlier, many members’ attention would have been on Israeli military tactics in an operation that killed nine Palestinians in Jenin.
Diplomats said instead, council members paid significant attention to the attack in Jerusalem, in which a Palestinian militant opened fire on civilians outside a synagogue in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood, killing seven and wounding at least three others. went.
The IDF said the military operation in Jenin targeted a terrorist cell that was preparing for an imminent attack. Most of the deaths were members of the cell or gunmen, although at least one civilian was also killed.
Security Council representatives from China, France, the Russian Federation, Britain, the United States, Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates all condemned the Jerusalem attack.
Unlike the public session earlier this month that was called to discuss far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount, Friday’s session was held behind closed doors, and The Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors were not invited to speak.
A diplomat said Friday’s session began with a briefing from UN Middle East envoy Tor Vannesland, who updated members on Friday’s Jerusalem attack as well as Thursday’s Jenin raid and warned that the situation was “deteriorating rapidly”. Has been”.
Rescue and security forces stand near a body at the site of a deadly terrorist attack in the Neve Ya’akov neighborhood of Jerusalem, January 27, 2023. (Ahmed Gharabali/AFP)
The diplomat noted that some members, notably Russia, were more critical of Israel’s role in the ongoing escalation.
Friday’s meeting was requested by the United Arab Emirates, China and France, indicating widespread concern about Israeli-Palestinian tensions, though there was a lack of consensus on how to deal with the conflict.
The US representative used his prepared remarks on Friday to argue against “unilateral measures” by the Palestinians at the UN, while Russia’s envoy said Moscow would support such an initiative, which would include the Palestinians at the UN. including official member status.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf was asked during Thursday’s briefing about the possibility that the Palestinian Authority would take action at the United Nations against Israel over Thursday’s raid.
“We don’t think there is any point in going to international forums at this point of time. That is the point at which they need to engage with each other and that will be the nature of our discussions with both the sets of officials.
While some emergency sessions of the Security Council lead to a decision by members to draft a joint statement or adopt a binding resolution, that was not the case on Friday.
“This speaks to the recognition by members that they will not be able to reach a consensus on this issue,” said a UN diplomat on condition of anonymity.
