The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called upon the international community and the Security Council to assume their responsibilities in providing the necessary protection for the Palestinian people and to put an end to Israel's attacks and systematic violations of Islamic and Christian sanctities, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque. The kingdom strongly condemned Israeli occupation authorities' demolishing of dozens of houses in the Wadi al-Homs area in the town of Sur Bahir, east of Alquds, which houses hundreds of Palestinian citizens, which was condemned by the Council of Ministers in the Kingdom today. In his address to the Security Council in New York in his capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group for this month and on behalf of the brotherly Arab countries, the Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mualimi, warned against Israeli attempts to change the historical situation in Alquds and Israel's illegal settlement expansionist schemes at the expense of the Palestinian territories. The ambassador called for the implementation of Security Council resolution 2334, stressing the importance of the historic Hashemite guardianship of the Islamic and Christian sanctuaries in East Jerusalem, especially the Holy Mosque of Alquds, and its main role in protecting these sanctities and its Arab and Islamic identity. He pointed out that the Arab summit held in Tunis last March and the emergency Arab summit held in Makkah last month underlined the importance of the Palestinian cause for the Arab nation, that it is first Arab cause, the Arab identity of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, the capital of the State of Palestine and the Arab commitment to peace as an irreplaceable strategic choice. He stressed the importance of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East as a strategic Arab option embodied in the Arab peace initiative adopted by all Arab countries at the Beirut Summit in 2002 and supported by the Islamic Cooperation Organization, and which is still the most comprehensive plan to address all final status issues, including the issue of refugees. He stated that the initiative provides security, acceptance and peace to Israel with all Arab countries, stressing the commitment to the initiative and adherence to all its provisions, calling on the international community to seek to be part of a just solution to this issue. He stressed the importance of the unity of Libya and its sovereignty, the need to find a political solution to end the Syrian crisis. --More 03:06 LOCAL TIME 00:06 GMT 0043 www.spa.gov.sa/1950089
