The “significant upsurge in violence” in the West Bank, in and near Gaza, and in east Jerusalem “needs to stop immediately,” a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.
“The firing of rockets from Gaza against civilian populations in Israel is totally unacceptable and feeds escalatory dynamics,” the spokesman added in a statement.
The European Union has urged conflicting parties in the recently escalated Israeli-Palestinian standoff to stop violence, according to a statement published on the EU’s official website on Tuesday.
Palestinian daily Al-Quds reported earlier that the violence erupted on Monday after Israeli police entered Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem and used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades against people inside the building. Hundreds of Palestinians were reported to be injured in the following clashes with the Israeli police forces in East Jerusalem.
Shortly before midnight, Israeli media sources reported that Palestinian militants fired more than 150 rockets into the territory of Israel and dozens of them were intercepted by air defense systems. Israel launched in return missile attacks against Palestinian militants on the territory of Gaza.
