The US has blocked yet another UN Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution that would condemn Israel for expelling an international observer group tasked with safeguarding Palestinians in the flashpoint West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron).
Kuwait and Indonesia presented the motion on Wednesday after a closed-door UNSC meeting on the Tel Aviv regime’s recent decision to suspend the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH).
UN diplomats said Washington did not believe a Security Council statement was appropriate regarding the issue.
The draft resolution, seen by AFP, expressed “regret” about Israel’s “unilateral decision” to boot TIPH observers out of al-Khalil and urged “calm and restraint” there.
It also stressed “the importance of the mandate of the TIPH and its efforts to foster calm in a highly sensitive area and fragile situation on the ground, which risks further deteriorating,” warning Israel that it has an obligation under international law “to protect the Palestinian civilian population” in al-Khalil and the rest of the West Bank.
Security Council President Anatolio Ndong Mba said that the countries had “exchanged different views” about Israel’s decision during Wednesday’s meeting.