US Blocks UN Motion against Israel's Decision to Expel Al-Khalil Monitors

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).

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.

“There was almost unanimity in the concern for the situation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Ambassador to the UN Mansour al-Otaibi said that the UNSC would discuss a proposed visit to the Israeli-occupied territories for a close-up look at the situation on the ground.

Late week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the TIPH's mandate would not be extended, claiming that the monitoring mission “acts against” the Tel Aviv regime.

The TIPH was set up in 1994, after an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinian worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil.

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