Norway, Tunisia, China demand immediate cessation of Israeli-Palestinian violence

Norwegian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mona Juul (C) speaks to reporters with Zhang Jun (L), China's permanent representative to the UN, and Tarek Ladeb (R), Tunisia's permanent representative to the UN, after a Security Council open debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the UN headquarters in New York, May 16, 2021. (Xinhua/Xie E)

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Norway, Tunisia and China, which requested an open debate of the Security Council on the escalation of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on Sunday demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Mona Juul, Norway's UN ambassador, read a joint statement of the three countries after Sunday's Security Council meeting.

Norway, Tunisia, and China expressed deep concern about the situation in Gaza and the rising number of civilian casualties, and called for an immediate end to hostilities, full respect for international law, including international humanitarian law, and the protection of civilians, especially children, reads the joint statement.

"We demanded an immediate cessation of all acts of violence, provocation, incitement, destruction, and eviction plans. Furthermore, we expressed concern about the tensions and violence in East Jerusalem, especially in and around the holy sites, including at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and urged the exercise of maximum restraint and (called) for the respect of the historic status quo at the holy sites."

The three countries urged both Israel and the Palestinians to work to urgently lower tensions and end the violence. They reiterated their support for a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and international law, and called for the intensification and acceleration of diplomatic efforts and support toward that goal.

Sunday's open debate was the first Security Council public event to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the escalation. Previously, the three countries managed to push for two rounds of closed-door consultations of the Security Council.