Jerusalem clashes erupt amid deadly escalation

JERUSALEM — Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police erupted in Jerusalem on Saturday night in the wake of a series of deadly incidents in the holy city and the West Bank, prompting world leaders, officials and organizations to call for calm and urge restraint in the escalating violence.

Israeli police entered Arab neighborhoods in the city looking for anyone who may have helped the assailants in the previous attacks, sparking clashes with Palestinians.

According to media reports, tensions have recently escalated between Palestine and Israel, with violence and conflict on the rise. On Thursday Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians while conducting a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, leaving more than 10 Palestinians dead. The next day a terrorist attack outside a synagogue in East Jerusalem left seven people dead.

On Saturday morning a 13-year-old Palestinian from the city was reported to have shot at a group of Israelis, wounding two of them.

Also on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces said a Palestinian shot at a restaurant near the Dead Sea. There were no casualties, and the shooter fled from the scene.

At least 30 Palestinians and eight Israelis have been killed in violence this month. Last year more than 150 Palestinians and more than 20 Israelis were killed in clashes between the two sides, the highest number of deaths in years, the United Nations said.

Palestine blamed Israel for the current "serious" tension.

"We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for the dangerous escalation that the situation has reached due to its crimes of killing, its continuation of settlement, the annexation of land and the demolition of homes," a statement by the Palestinian leadership said after President Mahmoud Abbas held a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"These policies are a result of the Israeli occupation government's evasion of its commitment to implement the signed peace agreements and its violation of international resolutions."

The Palestinian leadership warned of a deterioration that could threaten security and stability in the entire region.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that forceful and timely measures would be taken following two attacks carried out by Palestinians.

Swift response vowed

"Our response will be strong, swift and accurate," he said before a meeting of the security cabinet.

He announced a series of punitive steps against the Palestinians, including plans to step up Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The announcement cast a cloud over a visit this week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and threatened to raise tensions following one of the bloodiest months in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in several years.

World leaders, officials and organizations had called for calm and condemned the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestine territories.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the attack outside the Jerusalem synagogue was "particularly abhorrent".

Regarding the recent escalation of tensions between Palestine and Israel, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that the pressing priority is to do everything possible to de-escalate the situation and for all parties, Israel in particular, to show calm and restraint so as to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.

"We are deeply saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the Palestine-Israel conflicts," the spokesperson said, noting that China has monitored the recent escalation of tensions.

"We condemn all terrorist attacks targeting civilians and oppose excessive use of force."

US President Joe Biden, speaking with Netanyahu, said the synagogue shooting "was an attack against the civilized world", the White House said in a readout of their telephone call.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell strongly condemned "acts of insane violence and hate" after the "appalling terror attack" outside the synagogue.

Reacting to the Jenin raid, he stressed that "lethal force must only be used as a last resort when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life".

Egypt said it "strongly condemned" the synagogue attack and "any attack against civilians".

The foreign ministry urged Palestinians and Israelis to exercise restraint and cease provocations and aggression "to avoid sinking into a spiral of violence".

Agencies - China Daily