US rejects any move that jeopardizes status quo in Jerusalem

WASHINGTON, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel rejected, in a briefing Tuesday, the Israeli occupation national security minister Ben-Gvir action in Jerusalem earlier, by saying "any unilateral action like this that jeopardizes such a status quo is unacceptable." In a press briefing, Patel added "let me just say clearly that the United States stands firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respects to the holy sites of Jerusalem." "But I would say that we certainly are paying close attention to actions and activities that we find to be a detraction from Israel's security, a contributor to greater insecurity and instability in the region, and that would certainly be the actions that we saw today that Mr. Ben-Gvir participated in," Patel noted. "Even the prime minister's office itself made clear that the events of this morning are a deviation from what is Israeli policy and a deviation from the status quo," Patel said. "And any unilateral action, which this would be that, any unilateral action like this that jeopardizes such a status quo is unacceptable," Patel said. "And not only is it unacceptable, it detracts from what we think is a vital time as we are working to get this ceasefire deal across the finish line. It detracts from what our stated goal is for the region, which is a two state solution, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state that's side by side living in, with dignity and harmony. We recognize how important the holy site is, so we urge all sides to respect the status quo," Patel added. Regarding peace talks, Patel said "our partners in Qatar have assured us that they will work to have Hamas represented, broadly we fully expect these talks to move forward as they should." Source : Kuwait News Agency