“The High Commissioner said that this crisis is unsafe in the extreme because it is a confrontation drawn in part from that most combustible of human emotional mechanisms: fear”, said United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric Wednesday at a daily briefing.
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Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli police said an officer shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian girl who tried to stab him. Now Jews are allowed to visit the compound, but can not pray there.
Half of the Israelis polled this week think Israel should let go of Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, which it annexed after the 1967 Mideast war.
In all, 11 Israelis have been killed, mostly in stabbings, while 52 Palestinians, including 30 identified by Israel as attackers, have been killed by Israeli fire.
On Tuesday, two other Palestinians were gunned down by Israeli forces in the West Bank over similar claims.
Numerous youths behind the attacks are also from the city. But Palestinians say it is the result of frustration stemming from almost 50 years of Israeli occupation. More than 2,000 Palestinians have also been injured in clashes with Israeli forces, leading the Red Crescent to declare an emergency.
“It is absolutely vital for Israel to take steps that empower Palestinian leaders to improve economic opportunities and the quality of life for their people on a day-to-day basis”, he said.
On Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said it was her “dream to see the Israeli flag flying” over the holy site, prompting Netanyahu to order ministers to follow the government line. Palestinians also rallied to call for the release of the bodies of people killed in previous incidents.
When the suspects stabbed and wounded one of the soldiers, they were shot, the army said in a statement.
Since October 1, at least 55 Palestinians, half of whom Israel says were assailants, have been shot and killed by Israelis at the scene of attacks or during protests in the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabbi Richard Plavin of Beth Shalom B’nai Israel in Manchester, Connecticut, which Lakin attended before moving to Israel in 1984, said Lakin was a passionate man who pursued peace and justice.
After days of talks with Israel, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced over the weekend that surveillance cameras would soon be installed at the sensitive Jerusalem holy site that has been at the heart of the unrest.
Netanyahu’s office reacted swiftly with a statement late Monday recalling his promise to maintain the status quo which allows Muslims to pray at the site, and Jews to visit but not pray there.
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Earlier the same day, two other Palestinians were shot to death near the Jewish-only Gush Etzion settlement in the West Bank city of Bethlehem after allegedly stabbing a Jewish settler.
