The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting later today to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, at the request of Algeria, which holds the presidency of the Council for the month of January.

The meeting will discuss Israeli attacks on health facilities in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ammar Ben Jama, told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York that Algeria will pay special attention to a number of issues during its presidency, first and foremost the Palestinian issue.

He pointed out that Algeria will hold an open ministerial meeting on Palestine on 20 January, in addition to a special meeting on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the third week of the month.

It is noteworthy that five new countries have joined the Security Council as of January 2025, namely Somalia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark and Panama, which will serve until December 2026.