The UN Security Council will discuss, today, Friday, during an emergency session it is holding on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, at the request of Algeria, which chairs the council during the current month of January.

The session will discuss the Israeli attacks on health facilities in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the targeting of the Martyr Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

Algeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ammar Ben Jamaa, said during a press conference he held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday that his country, during its presidency of the council, will focus on a group of issues, most notably the Palestinian issue.

He added that Algeria will hold an open session on January 20 on Palestine at the ministerial level, and the session will be chaired by Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

He added that the Security Council will hold a special session in the third week of this month on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and "we hope to reach a consensus in this meeting and at least to support UNRWA continuously in its work with the support of the General Assembly and the Security Council. For Algeria, UNRWA is irreplaceable and must continue to carry out its mandates."

Benjamaa quoted President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as saying: "Algeria has been fighting a battle for the Palestinian cause since it began its membership in the Security Council. Algeria will not abandon Palestine until it establishes its independent state with Jerusalem as its capital."

He added: "We are with Palestine and with all oppressed peoples in the world and we will continue to highlight their suffering.

The suffering of the Palestinian people and the catastrophic situation in Gaza remain at the top of Algeria's priorities."

It is noteworthy that five new countries joined the Security Council membership starting from Wednesday, the first day of this month, until the end of December 2026. The five countries that were elected last June are Somalia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark and Panama, while five non-permanent member states will leave the Council after completing their two-year membership: Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland.