UN Security Council to informally discuss international protection for Palestinians
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will discuss providing international protection for Palestinians during an informal May 6 meeting, PLO Ambassador to the UN in New York Riyad Mansour said on Wednesday.
“We would like to see an international force to separate between us and the Israeli occupying authorities,” Mansour said.
Such a step is not feasible at this time, so it is possible for the UNSC to take a smaller step to help the Palestinians, he said.
“Now the security council is beginning the discussion,” Mansour told reporters.
The Palestinians have persistently called for the UNSC to hold a formal meeting and to action on this matter, he added.
“The Security Council has to shoulder the responsibility when they see people who are living under occupation in which the occupier is supposed to provide protection,” Mansour said.
This is particularly true when Israel, which is the occupier, has abdicated its responsibility to protect Palestinian civilians, he said.
That is when the UNSC is supposed to get involved and place proposals on the table for the protection of those civilians, Mansour said.