New York- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reiterated its firm position of supporting the Palestinian people and rejecting all attempts to impose unilateral control and actions aimed at harming Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.

It warned of the danger of further escalation into a situation that affects all the region and beyond.

The Kingdom stressed that the only way to reach peace is by referring to the Arab peace initiative and putting in place an effective international mechanism to ensure that the Palestinian people have all their inalienable rights that include ending the occupation in accordance with a specific time frame and establishing an independent Palestinian state having Jerusalem as its capital.

This came during Saudi Arabia’s speech before the UN Security Council on Tuesday on the debate over “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue”, delivered by Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya al-Muallimi.

On the Syrian issue, Muallimi said that the Kingdom welcomes the agreement reached by Jordan, US and Russia on the ceasefire southwestern Syria.

“In this context, the Kingdom stresses the importance of the international community continuing to stand firm against the killings, siege, starvation, forced displacement and sectarian cleansing practiced by the Syrian regime,” Muallimi said.

He added that his country reaffirms its readiness to participate in any joint international effort to eliminate terrorist groups wherever they exist.

“My country’s delegation has warned your council several times that the most serious aspect of the conflict in Palestine is the provocative acts carried out by Israelis and schemes implemented and aiming at changing the current historic status quo, working on Judaizing and modifying its demographic composition and distorting its Arab and Islamic identity,” he said, stressing that Saudi Arabia won’t accept this and calls on all countries to commit to the international regulations in this matter.