JERUSALEM. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on a snap visit to Jerusalem amid spiralling Israeli-Palestinian violence, begged all parties to calm down and negotiate an end to the chaos.
The current unrest erupted in Jerusalem a month ago over tensions surrounding a Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims. It soon spread to Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem and then to the West Bank, Gaza and the rest of Israel.
The spate of daily attacks have caused panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of heavy violence. Weeks of clashes have killed 10 Israelis, at least 44 Palestinians and an Eritrean migrant worker.
“My visit reflects the sense of global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. “I am here to encourage and support all efforts to lower tensions and prevent the situation from spinning out of control. It’s not too late to avoid a broader crisis.”
Perhaps underscoring the urgency of his message, right around the time he was delivering it in a press conference in Jerusalem, Israeli police say a Palestinian drove his vehicle into a group of Israelis at a junction near Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the attacker was shot and killed after the attack that injured two people.
Media reported the attacker drove his car into people standing on the side of the road, injuring a soldier and a civilian, and then jumped out of the vehicle and stabbed people with a knife before he was shot.
A short time later, a Gaza health official said another Palestinian was killed in clashes with Israeli forces along border.
Ashraf al-Kidra said three Palestinians were injured in the violence Tuesday afternoon as well.
Palestinians in Gaza have repeatedly thrown rocks and rolled burning tires at soldiers on the border who responded with tear gas and sometimes live fire in recent weeks, as part of the spike in violence.
The Israeli military said soldiers “identified terrorists preparing to attack forces.” It said the soldiers fired “toward the snipers” and confirmed hits.
It said the attackers Tuesday are from the same cell that has fired on forces near the border before.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said an Israeli man died after being run over during a clash with Palestinians in the West Bank.
An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the incident says the man exited his car after Palestinian demonstrators threw stones at it and he began to hit passing Palestinian cars with a large stick similar to a baseball bat.
The man hit a passing truck with the stick, and the truck ran the man over.
A Palestinian security official said the truck driver turned himself in, and told officials he hit the Israeli by accident while trying to swerve out of the way. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Israel’s prime minister is accusing the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of “irresponsible behavior” during the past month of violence.
In a speech Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated previous assertions that Abbas has failed to condemn a string of Palestinian attacks. He called on Abbas to “stop lying, stop inciting.”
Abbas has not condemned the violence outright, and last week he falsely accused Israel of executing a teenage Palestinian attacker who was actually recovering in a hospital.
But he has said Palestinians should stick to what he calls “popular resistance,” which includes marches and stone throwing. He has also said armed attacks go against Palestinian interests.
Credit: CBS / AP
