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Kuwait seeks UN Securtity Council meeting over Gaza

14 May 2018 21:44 (UTC +04:00)

Kuwait on Monday has requested a UN Security Council meeting over deadly violence that occurred in Gaza near the Israeli border on the day the U.S. relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency

At least 52 Palestinian demonstrators were killed on Monday -- and hundreds more injured -- by Israeli army forces deployed along the other side of the border, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The embassy relocation coincides with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or the “The Catastrophe”.

Thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Gaza Strip’s eastern border early Monday morning to take part in protests aimed to commemorate the Nakba anniversary and protest relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Amid the mounting casualty toll, the UN urged Israeli security forces to "exercise maximum restraint in the use of live fire".

"The Secretary-General is profoundly alarmed by the sharp escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and the high number of Palestinians killed and injured in the Gaza protests," spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement, referring to Antonio Guterres.