The UN Security Council will hold a closed consultation session today, Friday, on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, amid an American move aimed at reducing tensions in the region.

The UN Security Council session includes a briefing by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Winsland.

The Palestinian delegate to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, announced that Palestine had called for an emergency session of the Security Council regarding the Israeli aggression on Jenin yesterday, Thursday, which left 10 martyrs.

In response to a question by Al-Jazeera, Mansour said that the Security Council must act in this regard within the framework of the Council's decisions, the resolutions of the General Assembly, and the recommendations of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In turn, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that the Secretary-General is very disturbed by the escalation of the situation in the West Bank, stressing that the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process is working to reduce that escalation.


American movement

Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday, and the Israel Broadcasting Authority said today, Friday, that Burns met with senior Israeli officials, including Mossad chief David Barnea.

The American official will move to Ramallah to meet Palestinian political and security leaders.

Axios said that although Burns' visit is scheduled in advance, it is of particular importance in light of the current tension after the military occupation operation in Jenin and its raids on the Gaza Strip.

Burns' visit comes after the visit of US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and prior to the visit of Washington Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to the Palestinian territories and Israel, which is expected on Monday and Tuesday.

Visit Blinken

For its part, the US State Department said that Secretary Anthony Blinken will begin the day after tomorrow, Sunday, a tour that includes Israel, the West Bank and Egypt.

The ministry added that Blinken will stress, in his meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, the urgent need for the two sides to take steps to calm tensions, in order to put an end to the cycle of violence that has claimed the lives of many innocent people, as it put it.

She explained that Blinken will discuss the importance of preserving the current historical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and will also discuss with the Israelis permanent American support for Israel's security, especially against the Iranian threat, according to what the ministry announced.


Gaza bombing

The occupation fighters launched - at dawn today, Friday - intensive raids on the Gaza Strip, in light of the Israeli escalation, which is the largest since the beginning of the year, as the Israeli forces stormed Jenin and its camp and killed 10 Palestinians, while the Palestinian factions vowed to the Israeli army to respond to the Jenin massacre.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the occupation targeted with a number of missiles sites in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip and another site in the south of the Strip, and east of Beit Hanoun in the northern Strip, indicating that the Israeli raids caused material damage in these sites and in the neighboring houses, without any injuries reported.

In the context, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that he had instructed the army to remain on alert for the possibility of continued fighting in Gaza.

The Palestinian factions threatened the Israeli army after the Jenin operation, as the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Ziyad al-Nakhala, said that the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people will not stop the resistance, and that the fighters of the Palestinian people will remain in the field.

For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that the occupation army will not succeed in breaking the will of the Palestinian people. Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the movement's political bureau, said that the occupation will pay the price for the massacre it carried out in Jenin and its camp, and that the resistance's response will not be delayed.

On Thursday, the Palestinian leadership announced the cessation of security coordination with Israel in response to the Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.