Ban Ki-Moon. 'Stop provocations'
Photo: AP
Shiekh Jarah neighborhood Tuesday
Photo: Gil Yohanan
UN chief urges Israel to end 'provocative actions' in east Jerusalem
United Nations Secretary-General comments on incidents in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarah neighborhood during which settlers took over house. Such actions 'stoke tensions, cause suffering and further undermine trust,' Ban says reiterating his call to freeze all settlement activity
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged Israel to
end its "provocative actions" in east Jerusalem and to abide by its commitments to freeze all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
"The Secretary General is dismayed at continued Israeli actions in occupied east Jerusalem, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinian families and the insertion of settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods," a UN statement said.
Settlers in Sheikh Jarah house (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
"The eviction today of a Palestinian family in east Jerusalem is just the most recent incident," it added.
Warning that such actions "stoke tensions, cause suffering and further undermine trust," Ban urged Israel "to cease such provocative actions."
He also reiterated his call on Israel "to implement its commitments" under the blueprint for Middle East peace put forward by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations "by freezing all settlement activity, including natural growth; dismantling outposts; and reopening Palestinian institutions in east Jerusalem."
Earlier Tuesday, dozens of Israeli settlers took over a house in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, armed with a court order secured after a protracted legal battle with a Palestinian family, witnesses and police said.
