Tunisia, Norway and China have requested another emergency UN Security Council meeting be scheduled Friday on the worsening hostilities between Israel and Palestinians, despite ongoing US resistance for the body to take a role in the conflict.
The session would be public and would include participation by Israel and the Palestinians, diplomats told AFP Wednesday.
The Council has already held two closed-door videoconferences since Monday, with the United States -- a close Israel ally -- opposing adoption of a joint declaration, which it said would not "help de-escalate" the situation.
According to a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, the idea of a third meeting in less than a week was pushed by the Palestinians.
The goal of a new meeting is "to try to contribute to peace... and to have a Security Council able to express itself and to call for ceasefire," stressed another diplomat speaking anonymously.
Israel has refused to allow the Security Council to get involved in the conflict, a demand Washington has so far agreed to, diplomats told AFP.
According to several sources, 14 of the 15 members of the Council were in favor of adopting a joint declaration earlier Wednesday aimed at reducing tension.
However, the United States saw the Security Council meeting as a sufficient show of concern, calling a statement "counterproductive," diplomats told AFP on condition of anonymity.
