Abbas urges UNSC meeting on Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Israeli aggression in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and settler attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to Palestinian media, Abbas submitted a request for an emergency UN Security Council session, calling for international efforts to help stop Israeli violations in East al-Quds as well as assaults by Israeli settlers on the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

Abbas’ spokesman also said the Palestinian leader would urge the world body to take proper measures against Tel Aviv’s land grab in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The al-Aqsa Mosque has been the scene of clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli settlers and troops in the past few weeks. Tel Aviv has imposed fresh restrictions on the access of Palestinians to the holy site.

Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.

Abbas made the request amid reports of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving plans for the construction of 1,060 new illegal settler units in East al-Quds amid mounting criticism of the regime’s expansionist policies.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East al-Quds in 1967.