US condemns ‘unacceptable escalation’ of rocket volleys fired at Israel
The US condemns in the strongest terms the barrage of rocket attacks fired into Israel in recent hours, Ned Price, US State Department spokesperson told a press briefing on Monday. “This is an unacceptable escalation,” he said.
“While we urge deescalation on all sides, we also recognize Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself, to defend its people and its territory,” Price added.
“The United States will remain fully engaged to promote calm in Jerusalem and we welcome the steps the Israeli government has taken in recent days aimed at avoiding provocations, including the decision to avoid confrontations during the Jerusalem Day commemoration and the delay in the decision regarding the Sheikh Jarrah evictions.”
The condemnation came on the heels of a phone call between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his
Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, “to express the United States’ serious concerns about the situation in Jerusalem, including violent confrontations at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount during the last days of Ramadan,” the White House said on Sunday.
According to the White House readout of the call, “Sullivan highlighted recent engagements by senior US officials with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials and key regional stakeholders to press for steps to ensure calm, deescalate tensions and denounce violence.”
Sullivan also “reiterated the United States’ serious concerns about the potential evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood,” the statement reads.
The two agreed that “the launching of rocket attacks and incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel is unacceptable and must be condemned.”
According to a senior Israeli official, on all phone calls with foreign officials, “when people tell us they want to see calm in Jerusalem, we say we agree, and maybe you could tell the Palestinians that they should also be acting to calm things.”
On Monday, Israel made two decisions in hopes of quieting the unrest in the capital, the official said.
“Stopping Jews from going to the Temple Mount is not an easy decision,” the official said. “To interfere in the legal process and for the attorney-general to approach the court” to postpone a ruling in the Sheikh Jarrah/ Shimon Hatzadik property dispute “is not normal.”
“We do this because we want things to calm down,” the official added. “Maybe ask the other side what they’re doing.”
In addition, the official said, the Israeli government warns against “sending a message to the Palestinians that their violence brings results” in terms of international pressure on Israel, which would be “counterproductive both in the short and long term.”