RAMALLAH: UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged an end to spiralling violence as he met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday in a bid to calm three weeks of deadly unrest.

“We will continue to support all efforts to create the conditions to make meaningful negotiations possible,” Ban told journalists after meeting Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

“But ultimately it is for Palestinians and Israelis to choose peace. Our most urgent challenge is to stop the current wave of violence and avoid any further loss of life.” Ban, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, said that “the only way to end the violence is through real and visible progress toward a political solution, including an end of the occupation”.

“I have stressed to both Israeli and Palestinian leaders the urgent need to reaffirm through words and deeds that they are partners for peace,” he said.

Abbas called on Israel to strictly respect rules governing Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters at the compound in September preceded the current wave of violence.

Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Abbas of inciting violence by suggesting that Israel wants to change the status of the compound.

Muslims fear Israel will seek to change rules governing the site, located in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2015

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