UN Security Council to meet behind closed doors on Jerusalem unrest

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN Security Council will convene this week to discuss simmering tensions in Jerusalem, diplomatic sources said on Monday.

Tuesday's closed-door meeting comes at the request of China, France, Ireland, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and US.

Tensions have been running high across the Palestinian territories since the beginning of April amid repeated Israeli arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank. On Friday, dozens of Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.

Daily settler incursions into the flashpoint site to celebrate the week-long Jewish Passover holiday have further inflamed the situation.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Betul Yuruk contributed to this story from the United Nations