The UN Security Council debates the „Palestinian issue” on Thursday, the United Nations announced, a day after an international protest sparked by the visit of an Israeli minister to the Esplanade of Mosques in East Jerusalem, AFP reports, Agerpres reads.

Confirming what diplomats have been discussing for several hours, the UN informed in a brief press release that the 15 member states of the Security Council will meet on Thursday at 15:00 (20:00 GMT) to discuss „the situation in Middle East, especially the Palestinian issue”.

At his daily press conference, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, reiterated what his deputy said on Tuesday: Antonio Guterres „calls on all parties to refrain from actions that may escalate tensions in and around Jerusalem”.

The United Nations, whose Security Council has already adopted several resolutions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reaffirmed on Tuesday „the importance of maintaining the status quo in the holy places”.

The third holy place of Islam and the holiest site of Judaism under the name ‘Temple Mount’, the Esplanade of Mosques is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Palestinian sector occupied and annexed by Israel, notes AFP. By virtue of a historical status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at certain times, but cannot pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Israelis, often nationalists, have been secretly praying there, a move denounced as a ‘provocation’ by the Palestinians and several Middle Eastern countries.

Agerpres