Deadly rage
Ban calls on Israelis, Palestinians to unite in ending violence
An Israeli man, angered after demonstrators threw rocks at his vehicle Tuesday near Hebron in the West Bank, carries a large stick as he confronts a Palestinian truck driver. The truck ran the man over moments later, killing him. The driver surrendered, saying it was an accident. Earlier, in a surprise visit to Jerusalem, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm after a month of violence, warning of “potential regional implications.”
JERUSALEM — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm during a surprise visit Tuesday to Jerusalem ahead of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
The visit comes as unrest persists over tensions regarding Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims. A spate of almost daily Palestinian attacks against civilians and soldiers, most of which have involved stabbings, has caused panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of bloodshed.
“These are difficult times for Israelis and Palestinians. I am here in the hope that we can work together to end the violence, ease the tensions and begin to restore a long-term political horizon of peace,” Ban said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night. “I deplore the random attacks against civilians. Such terror attacks make every place unsafe and every person regardless to gender or age a potential victim.
“We need to keep the situation from escalation into a religious conflict, with potential regional implications.”
Over the past month, 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, most of them stabbings. In that time, 46 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 25 identified by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops. An Eritrean migrant died after being shot by a security guard and beaten by a mob that mistakenly believed he was a Palestinian assailant during a deadly Arab attack at a bus station.
Netanyahu said Tuesday night that the violence has been caused largely by incitement from Palestinian leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas.
“President Abbas unfortunately has been fanning the flames. President Abbas has not condemned a single one of the 30 terrorist attacks against Israelis over the last month and he continues to glorify the terrorists as heroes,” Netanyahu said.
The initial outbreak of Palestinian attacks was fueled by rumors that Israel was plotting to take over the Jerusalem holy site. Unrest began about a month ago, when Palestin-
ians repeatedly barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at police.
The hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical Temples. It is the holiest site in Judaism.
Known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, it houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the goldtopped Dome of the Rock. It is the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
Israel has denied the allegations, saying it has no plans to change the status quo at the site, where Jews are allowed to visit but not pray. Israel has accused Palestinian leaders of incitement to violence over the site.
But Jewish visits to the site have doubled since 2010, and senior members of Netanyahu’s government have called for Jewish prayer rights, fueling Palestinian concerns about the site.
Netanyahu, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group, said “President Abbas has joined ISIS and Hamas in claiming that Israel threatens the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This Mr. Secretary is a total lie.” He said Abbas must be held accountable for his “dangerous words.”
He insisted that Israel is maintaining the status quo at the site.
“Palestinians by contrast are the ones who violate the status quo,” he said. “Palestinians have brought explosives into Al-Aqsa Mosque — that’s a violation of the status quo. They try violently to prevent Jews and Christians from visiting the Temple Mount — that’s another violation of the status quo.”
In New York, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Ban was visiting to determine whether Israeli and Palestinian leaders are willing to revive negotiations on a two-state solution.
He told reporters this is what Ban and the other members of the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.S., the European Union and Russia — have been encouraging.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Netanyahu on Thursday in Germany before heading to the Middle East later this week to explore ways to end the violence.
Ban visited on another day of violence.
On Tuesday night, Israel’s military said two Palestinians were shot and killed after they attacked soldiers in the biblical West Bank city of Hebron.
Just hours earlier, Israel’s military said its forces killed a Palestinian during a clash along the border with the Gaza Strip. A military statement said the soldiers identified Palestinians preparing to attack soldiers on the Gaza border and “foiled the attack, firing toward the snipers, hits were confirmed.”