Kerry, Obama Call on Israeli, Palestinian Leaders to Urge Calm

The other saw a 23-year-old Palestinian stab and wound a woman of around 70 near the crowded central bus station during rush hour before being shot dead by police, sparking panic among commuters. No resolution is planned for Friday, but there might be an attempt to get the council to issue a statement urging the two sides to curb the violence.

Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens injured.

Weeks of violence have left at least 30 Palestinians dead, with officials in the United Nations, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, repeatedly calling for calm and an end to the bloodshed. “These are happening on a near daily basis, and all across the West Bank and even East Jerusalem”, he reported. He was wearing a T-shirt with the word “press”, and had blended in with journalists standing a few feet from soldiers who were firing tear gas at stone-throwers.

Similar scenes played out in other parts of the occupied territories.

An Israeli Defence Force soldier was wounded after his unit was attacked by rock-throwing Palestinians near the Tomb of Joseph outside the West Bank city of Nablus early on Monday, the Times of Israel reports.

The incident comes as tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank between Israelis and Palestinians ratchets upward.

Sky’s Sherine Tadros, who is in Bethlehem, said: ‘We’ve seen sometimes quite intense clashes between the Palestinians, who have been throwing rocks and sometimes firebombs, but mainly just pebbles and marbles, at Israeli security forces.

Israel’s military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said the attack was “a blatant violation of the basic value of freedom of worship”.

Palestinian rioters set fire to the compound of the Tomb of Joseph near Nablus. “We absolutely reject such acts and any acts outside the law and order and that are offensive to our culture and our religion and our morals”, Abbas said in a statement published by WAFA, the Palestinian news agency.

What is happening between Israelis and Palestinians? Rather, he argued that the violence is committed by Palestinians who reject any Israeli presence.

Israeli security forces have deployed massively in Jerusalem after two weeks of Palestinian attacks in the city and across Israel.

What’s behind the latest unrest? He added that the Palestinian Authority will restore the site and investigate the incident. Israel repeatedly dismissed the rumours as incitement. Israeli police said that he and a cousin stabbed two Israelis there on Monday.

Liberman accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting the rioters to burn down holy and historical sites, paralleling that to the actions of the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria.