How Israel’s forced school closures are placing Palestinian students in limbo

Palestinian schoolgirls embrace as they leave a school run by the UNWRA in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (AFP)
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Updated 18 May 2025
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How Israel’s forced school closures are placing Palestinian students in limbo

  • Closure of UN-run schools in East Jerusalem draws international condemnation, raises fears of wider educational collapse
  • With checkpoints, closures and raids multiplying, nearly 800 Palestinian students have lost access to their schools, sparking alarm

LONDON: On May 8, the last bell rang for hundreds of Palestinian schoolchildren in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces raided and forcibly closed three UN-run facilities in the Shuafat refugee camp, leaving 550 students in limbo just weeks before the academic year’s end.

The UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, said Israeli forces were also stationed that morning outside three additional schools it operates. Teachers dismissed 250 students early for their safety.

Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA commissioner-general, slammed the raids and forced school closures as “a blatant disregard of international law.”

“By enforcing closure orders issued last month, the Israeli authorities are denying Palestinian children their basic right to learn,” he wrote on the social platform X. “UNRWA schools must continue to be open to safeguard an entire generation of children.”

The closures follow similar incidents last month, when Israeli officials, backed by armed police, raided six schools and issued 30-day closure orders. The actions are part of a broader push to enforce new Israeli laws banning UNRWA operations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

 

“Roughly four weeks ago we received notifications from the Israeli Ministry of Education that the three schools we operate in Shuafat refugee camp and another three schools we operate inside East Jerusalem shall be closed,” said Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank.

He told UN News that students enrolled in the shuttered institutions “have no adequate access to education beyond these schools.”

“This is very concerning for the children, for their families, and it comes while the school year is still ongoing,” he added. “This is unprecedented. It’s a grave threat to the rights of those children.”




Palestinian schoolgirls embrace as they leave a school run by the UNWRA  in the Shoafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 8, 2025, as Israeli security forces reportedly prepare to close the school. (AFP)

The Israeli Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license.

The enforcement orders that took effect May 8 have now left more than 800 Palestinian children, ages six to 15, without access to education. “Now, nearly 800 girls and boys — some as young as six years old — are left in shock and trauma,” Lazzarini wrote.

In late January, two Israeli laws banning UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian territories took effect. While implementation was initially slow, the second half of February saw the first moves to forcibly close several agency facilities in East Jerusalem.

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For children whose schools were forcibly closed, the affected classrooms were more than just places of learning — they were sanctuaries in the midst of conflict and uncertainty.

“When we see school closures in places like the West Bank, it not only means that children are missing out on their right to learn, but they are also being stripped of a sense of security and normalcy,” said Alexandra Saieh, head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children International.

“It also helps them in terms of their long-term physical and mental wellbeing,” she told Arab News. “It improves future prospects, and it also ensures that Palestinian society continues to prosper.

“So, when children miss out on schooling, it impacts future generations of Palestinians.”




Palestinian Bedouin students play at a primary school near the village of Kafr Malik in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 21, 2023. (AFP)

The Israeli Ministry of Education said earlier it would place the students affected by the closures into other Jerusalem schools.

Parents, teachers and administrators say closing the main schools in East Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.

Now, with the threat of broader closures looming over nearly 50,000 Palestinian refugee students in the West Bank, the future of their education — and childhood — hangs in the balance.

The Israeli government’s opposition to UNRWA predates this year’s legislative changes. Officials have long criticized the agency’s school curriculum, accusing it of promoting incitement, and have objected to its continued recognition of refugee status for Palestinians displaced during the 1948 war.

Tensions escalated after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel alleged that around 10 percent of UNRWA staff in Gaza, or about 1,200 individuals, were affiliated with Palestinian militant groups involved in the assault, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.




Palestinians check the destruction at a UNRWA school housing displaced people, following an Israeli strike in the Bureij refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip, on May 7, 2025. (AFP)

UNRWA, however, has strongly denied the accusations, saying it has not received any supporting evidence from Israel or any UN member state.

A series of investigations found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA, but stressed Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its main allegation. It also said last August that nine staff working for UNRWA would be dismissed because they may have been involved in the attacks.

Saieh said Palestinian children’s right to education is “under siege, not just in Gaza, of course, where we’ve seen a total destruction of the education system, including the destruction of schools, the killing of both teachers and students, but also in the West Bank.”

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have either entirely or partially destroyed almost all school buildings by July 2024, according to the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster.

IN NUMBERS

50k+ Refugee children in occupied Palestinian territories who go to UN schools.

96 UNRWA schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in total.

As of August 2024, OCHA reports figures from Gaza’s health authorities that identify these attacks have killed 10,627 children and 411 teachers. But until today, the Israeli onslaught has killed at least 52,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than 17,000 of them children, according to the local Education Ministry.

While the closure of schools in East Jerusalem before the academic year’s end is unprecedented, disruptions to education in the West Bank have been a regular part of life for decades.

In the West Bank, Saieh highlighted that Palestinian children’s access to education is “under continued threat of disruption due to Israeli military operations, and, of course, the threats that UNRWA faces due to an Israeli government ban on its ability to work in many places, including in refugee camps.”

She noted that “students and teachers are often blocked from reaching their schools by constant movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities through the proliferation of checkpoints across the West Bank and other roadblocks as well as violence.”




School children call it a day at a UN-run school in Balata camp east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on February 6, 2025. (AFP)

These daily obstacles, Saieh said, take a heavy psychological toll on students and educators alike.

“In parts of the West Bank, especially where there are checkpoints and roadblocks, there is a great deal of fear, anxiety, and stress associated with the journey to and from school — affecting both children and teachers,” she said.

The impact, she added, extends beyond missed classroom time. Disruptions not only erode children’s emotional well-being and sense of safety, but also impacts “their ability to learn in the future” and “their relationships with families and teachers.”




Children participate in an activity aimed to support their mental health, at UNRWA's Tal al-Hawa Elementary Girls School in Gaza City on April 30, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP)

Citing data from the Education Cluster in the West Bank, Saieh noted that from October 2023 to March 2024, children in some areas were forced to reduce in-person school attendance to merely two days a week due to escalating insecurity and access restrictions.

In September last year, the Education Cluster and the West Bank Protection Consortium raised alarm over a Sept. 16 Israeli settler attack on the Arab Al-Kaabneh Basic School in Al-Muarrajat, northwest of Jericho.

“In the first three months of this year, we’ve seen attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on education rise




Palestinian students attend a training course on trade at a school run by the UNRWA in the Qalandia refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on November 14, 2024. (AFP)

significantly,” Saieh said, warning that such incidents “deepen barriers to safe education for children.”

She added that the Palestinian Ministry of Education has documented thousands of Israeli attacks on schools over the past year. 

“These attacks include breaking into schools, smashing windows, desks, electronic devices, the use of firearms in the vicinity of schools, the detention of students and staff, and delaying and harassing students and teachers on the way to work,” she said.




Palestinian students are evacuated in buses from a school in coordination with deployed Israeli forces during an army raid in Qabatiyah south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on September 19, 2024. (AFP)

Similarly, teachers are not immune to the rising tensions. “Teachers often face immense obstacles just getting to the classroom,” Saieh said. “We know that teachers have been often blocked from reaching schools due to Israeli movement restrictions and violence, so they are also under threat.”

She emphasized that Israeli military raids near schools, settler violence, and the destruction of educational infrastructure all hinder teachers’ ability to do their jobs. “We’ve seen teachers alongside students being subjected to violence as well.”

On top of these security threats, many educators face financial hardship. Saieh noted that many Palestinian teachers are not receiving full salaries, making it difficult to retain staff and provide consistent education in the occupied Palestinian territories.

These challenges unfold in a broader context of ongoing occupation. Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In 1980, it annexed East Jerusalem — a move not recognized by most of the international community — and considers the entire city its capital.




Palestinian school girls attend class at an UNRWA school in the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem on May 6, 2025.

Palestinians, however, view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.

Today, about 230,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem alongside some 390,000 Palestinians.

Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank illegal under international law, a stance supported by a recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice. Israel rejects this interpretation.

On May 2, the ICJ concluded public hearings on Israel’s legal responsibilities toward allowing UN agencies and humanitarian groups to operate in the occupied Palestinian territories. A formal opinion, requested by the UN General Assembly in December, is expected after several months of deliberation.

This ongoing tension is reflected in Israel’s recent closure of UN-run schools in East Jerusalem, a move that has drawn condemnation from the international community.

The British Consulate in Jerusalem, in a statement on X, said the UK, Belgium, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Turkiye, and others “strongly oppose the closure orders issued against six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem.”

 

 

Noting that “UNRWA has operated in East Jerusalem under its UN General Assembly mandate since 1950,” the consulate stressed that “Israel is obliged under international humanitarian law to facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the education of children.”

“Education is a right, not a privilege,” the consulate added in its statement. “Palestinian children, like all children, deserve safe, uninterrupted access to school. We stand in solidarity with students, parents, and teachers.”

Saieh of Save the Children called on the international community to protect UNRWA.

 

 

“UNRWA provides critical education services to Palestinian children in the West Bank,” she said. “UNRWA schools are critical for children’s learning, and ensuring that UNRWA is able to continue to operate is essential to ensuring that children are able to continue to learn.”

She also highlighted the deep desire of Palestinian children to attend school. “Palestinian children want to go to school. We hear this consistently from the children we work with across the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Saieh further stressed the value Palestinians place on education. “Palestinian society, as a whole, highly values education. Historically, Palestinians have had some of the highest literacy rates globally, and they continue to prioritize sending their children to school.”


 

 


What do we know about US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities?

Updated 10 sec ago
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What do we know about US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities?

  • Tehran says damage limited, no radiation leaks after Trump declares Iran’s uranium-enrichment capabilities destroyed
  • Assault involved 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft

DUBAI: Amid mounting speculation, the US launched air strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday.

The operation aimed to support Israel in its war against Iran — ongoing since June 13 — by crippling Tehran’s uranium enrichment capacity, according to Asharq News.

US President Donald Trump later announced that Iran’s uranium-enrichment abilities had been eliminated, warning Tehran against any “retaliatory response.” Tehran, however, described the damage as “limited” and dismissed any indications of radiation leaks.

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The US strikes included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft, in an operation the top US general, General Dan Caine, said was named “Operation Midnight.”

Asharq News reported that the strikes targeted three critical nuclear facilities instrumental in Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear complex.

These sites span the entire fuel-enrichment chain — from raw uranium conversion, through enrichment, to the production of fuel and technical components for research reactors.

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• In support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the B-2 flew one of its longest missions to date from Whiteman to Afghanistan and back.

• The B-2 completed its first-ever combat deployment in Iraq, flying 22 sorties and releasing more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions.

This handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies and taken on December 11, 2020 shows an overview of Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), northeast of the Iranian city of Qom. (AFP)

Fordo facility

Location and structure: Fordo is 30 kilometers northeast of Qom, embedded within a mountain at an altitude of approximately 1,750 m, with over 80 meters of rock and volcanic shielding — making it one of Iran’s most fortified sites.

Technical role: It houses two underground halls that can hold about 3,000 IR-1 centrifuges, enriching uranium up to 60 percent — a level nearing weapons -grade.

Strategic importance: It is a primary target in any military effort to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear military capability, due to its high capacity and protection.

This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows Iran's shows Natanz nuclear research center in the central Iranian province of Isfahan. (AFP) 

Natanz reactor

Location and structure: Situated near Kashan in central Iran, partially buried under about 8 meters of earth with a 220meter-thick concrete roof, naturally shielded by surrounding mountainous terrain.

Technical role: Contains primary and experimental plants with over 14,000 centrifuges (IR-1, IR-2m, IR-4, IR-6), making it Iran’s main industrial enrichment hub.

Strategic importance: Responsible for producing most of Iran’s low-enriched uranium and plays a key role in centrifuge development.

This handout satellite picture provided by Maxar Technologies and taken on June 22, 2025, shows damage after US strikes on the Isfahan nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran. (AFP)

Isfahan nuclear complex

Location and structure: Located south of Isfahan on an arid plateau away from populated areas, it is neither buried nor heavily fortified.

Technical role: Includes a Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF); a research reactor fuel production plant; and a metallic fuel pelletizing plant, and three research reactors.

Strategic importance: Serves as the backbone of Iran’s nuclear research and production infrastructure, supplying both Natanz and Fordo.

The Pentagon used some of the world’s most advanced aircraft for Saturday’s strikes. The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions.

The bomber represents a major milestone in the US bomber modernization program. The B-2 brings massive firepower to bear anywhere on the globe through seemingly impenetrable defenses.

A B-2 bomber has a range over 11,000 km without refueling, capable of global reach from distant American bases. (Getty Images via AFP)

According to US officials, the bombers that carried out the Iran strikes flew for nearly 37 hours non-stop from its Missouri base, refueling in mid-air multiple times before striking in the early hours of Sunday.

A B-2 bomber offers several key advantages, primarily due to its stealth capabilities and global reach.

• A range over 11,000 km without refueling, capable of global reach from distant American bases.

• Stealth abilities such as flying-wing design and radar-absorbing materials that allow it to evade air defenses.

• It can carry both nuclear and conventional weapons, including the GBU‑57 bunker-buster bomb.

Initial reports quoted by Asharq News indicated that Fordo was hit with the GBU‑57, the most powerful US conventional bunker buster, designed for deeply buried targets like Fordo, which lies 90 meters underground. Fox News reported six bunker-busting bombs were dropped on Fordo, alongside approximately 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired at Natanz and Isfahan.

The GBU‑57 ‘Massive Ordnance Penetrator’ was designed by American military engineers to devastate deeply buried bunkers without radioactive fallout. It was the only nonnuclear weapon that could reach Iran’s hardest target.

• Weight: ~13,600 kg

• Length: 6.2 meters.

• Diameter: 0.8 meters.

• Explosive payload: 2,400 kg of high explosives.

• Guidance: GPS + inertial navigation.

* Penetration: Up to 60 meters of reinforced concrete or dense rock.

A Tomahawk cruise missile is a precision weapon that launches from ships, submarines and ground launchers and can strike targets precisely from a great distance, even in heavily defended airspace.

• Range: 1,250–2,500 km depending on variant.

• Speed: Subsonic (~880 km/h).

• Guidance: Inertial navigation, GPS, with some variants using terminal guidance (TERCOM, DSMAC).

• Warhead: ~450 kg conventional explosives.

• Launch platforms: Ships and submarines.

There has been a torrent of responses to the US move against Iran, Asharq News reported. President Trump declared the mission’s success, stating that the Fordo facility was “gone,” and Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment sites “completely and utterly destroyed.” Later on Sunday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes were an incredible and overwhelming success that have “obliterated Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.”

For its part, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an official saying the nuclear sites had been evacuated in advance, and the damage was “not irreparable.” The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran stated there was “no risk of any radiation leak.” Iran emphasized its nuclear industry would not be halted.
 

 


Israel rejects critical EU report ahead of ministers’ meeting

Updated 34 min 17 sec ago
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Israel rejects critical EU report ahead of ministers’ meeting

  • European nations have been increasingly critical of the massive civilian toll of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli communities

BRUSSELS: Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document ... and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
European nations have been increasingly critical of the massive civilian toll of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli communities.

 

 


Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid killed in airstrike

Updated 54 min 46 sec ago
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Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid killed in airstrike

  • The airstrike targeted the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought
  • It said another 22 people were wounded while waiting for aid trucks

TEL AVIV: At least four Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike and 22 were wounded while waiting for humanitarian aid, according to a local hospital.

The airstrike targeted the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought. 

It said another 22 people were wounded while waiting for aid trucks.

Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking desperately needed food, killing hundreds of people in recent weeks. 

The military says it has fired warning shots at people it said suspiciously approached its forces.

Separately, World Central Kitchen, the charity run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said it had resumed the distribution of hot meals in Gaza for the first time in six weeks after shutting down because of Israel’s blockade, which was loosened last month amid fears of famine.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said that it had recovered the remains of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip. 

The military identified the remains as those of Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19. 

All three were killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel that ignited the ongoing war. 

Hamas is still holding 50 hostages, fewer than half of them believed to be alive.

The military did not provide any details about the recovery operation, and it was unclear if the airstrike was related to it.

“The campaign to return the hostages continues consistently and is happening alongside the campaign against Iran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son’s remains were returned on what would have been Yonatan’s 23rd birthday.

Militants killed some 1,200 people, and abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7 attack. 

More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued alive, and Israeli forces have recovered dozens of bodies.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has said that women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Hostages Families Forum, the main organization representing families of the hostages, has repeatedly called for a deal to release the remaining captives.

“Particularly against the backdrop of current military developments, we want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving any sort of victory,” it said in a statement on Sunday.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire, and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying Israel will continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. 

Even then, he has said Israel will maintain lasting control over Gaza and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population, plans the Palestinians and others view as forcible expulsion.

The US, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to broker a new ceasefire and hostage release after Israel ended a truce in March with a surprise wave of airstrikes. 

Those talks appear to have made little progress as Israel has expanded its air and ground offensive.


Twenty killed in suicide bombing at Damascus church

Updated 22 June 2025
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Twenty killed in suicide bombing at Damascus church

  • It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar Assad was toppled
  • Syria’s interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Daesh group

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria’s capital Damascus on Sunday, health authorities and security sources said.

It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar Assad was toppled in December. Syria’s interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Daesh (Islamic State). He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, a ministry statement added.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.

Daesh has been behind several attempted attacks on churches in Syria since Assad’s fall, but this was the first to succeed, another security source told Reuters.

Syria’s state news agency cited the health ministry as saying that 52 people were also injured in the blast.

A livestream from the site by Syria’s civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from inside the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered pews and masonry.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led the offensive against Assad before taking over in January for a transitional phase, has repeatedly said he will protect minorities.

“We unequivocally condemn the abhorrent terrorist suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, Syria,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We demand that the Syrian transitional authorities take immediate action to hold those involved accountable and implement measures to guarantee the safety of Christian communities and all religious groups, allowing them to live without fear.”

Daesh had previously targeted religious minorities, including a major attack on Shiite pilgrims in Sayeda Zainab in 2016 — one of the most notorious bombings during Assad’s rule.

The latest assault underscores the group’s continued ability to exploit security gaps despite the collapse of its territorial control and years of counterterrorism efforts.


Pakistan, China and Russia to push for ceasefire as UN Security Council meets on Iran

Updated 49 min 51 sec ago
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Pakistan, China and Russia to push for ceasefire as UN Security Council meets on Iran

  • The three countries have circulated a draft resolution text and asked UNSC members to share comments by Monday
  • A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China for it to pass

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, China and Russia will present a joint resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East, the Pakistani mission to the United Nations (UN) said on Sunday, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.

The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, which condemns the attacks against “peaceful nuclear sites and facilities under the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards in the Islamic Republic of Iran” and says that such attacks represent a threat to international peace and security, and to the entire safeguards regime of the IAEA, according to a draft seen by Arab News.

It calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue to reach an agreement acceptable to all parties that “guarantees the exclusively peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for complete lifting of all multilateral and unilateral sanctions.”

“Pakistan, China and Russia jointly have drafted a resolution and it is hoped that other countries like Algeria may also become its approvers,” Pakistan’s UN mission said.

“So far, it has been shared with the members countries for comments, which is a procedure before tabling it in the UNSC.”

The member countries will comment on the draft resolution and then a final draft will be tabled in the Security Council.

The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.

Iran requested the UN Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the US and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”

UN Secretary-General Guterres branded the US strikes on Iran as a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security.”

“At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace,” Guterres said in a statement.