Security Council plans evening session to debate Middle East crisis

Acting at the request of the Arab group of countries, the United Nations Security Council has scheduled a formal meeting this evening to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East.

Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, the President of the 15-member body, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York "there was a keenness to get on with what is a debate on a very topical issue."

The Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN, Fawzi Shobokshi, acting as the chairman of the Arab Group, asked that the Council convene a meeting "to consider the continued Israeli military aggression" against the Palestinians, as well as the "extremely grave and deteriorating" situation in Palestinian areas.

"The Arab Group requests the Security Council to consider the adoption of the necessary immediate measures to ensure an end to the current tragic situation and the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions," Ambassador Shobokshi said in his letter to the Council President.