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(AFP): The four members of the Middle East Quartet, the United States, Russia, the EU and the UN, has expressed deep concern over Jerusalem clashes, which led to a number of injuries.
Representatives of the Quartet, which aims to negotiate peace between Israel and Palestine, said the group is monitoring situations in East Jerusalem, including the Old City and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
“The Quartet envoys express deep concern over the daily clashes and violence in East Jerusalem, in particular last night´s confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount,” the group said in a statement.
“We are alarmed by the provocative statements made by some political groups, as well as the launching of rockets and the resumption of incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel, and attacks on Palestinian farmland in the West Bank,” it added.
The Middle East Quartet urged Israeli authorities to exercise restraint and to avoid measures that would further escalate the situation during the holy days of Muslims. The statement emphasized participants’ commitment to a two-state solution to be achieved through negotiations.
It voiced grave concerns regarding Palestinian families getting forcibly evicted from their homes where they have lived for generations in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods and said the group is against any one-sided action which would further escalate the situation that was already tense.
Despite international pleas the violence has continued Saturday, with dozens more people injured as Israeli police fired water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian protesters in annexed east Jerusalem.
The Quartet has been more active since US President Joe Biden took office earlier this year, after falling largely dormant during the administration of Donald Trump, who was seen by Palestinians as biased towards Israel.
