UN chief in surprise visit to calm Israel-Palestinian unrest

AFP, JERUSALEM: UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to make an unannounced visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories Tuesday to try to calm nearly three weeks of violence, even as a new stabbing wounded a soldier.
Young Palestinians have defied an Israeli security crackdown and calls for non-violence from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to carry out repeated knife and other attacks on Jews. There have also been violent protests across the Palestinian territories.
International concern has mounted, with US Secretary of State John Kerry due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Germany this week and Abbas later at an unspecified location in the Middle East.
In the latest incident on Tuesday, an Israeli soldier was stabbed during clashes near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron and the alleged 23-year-old Palestinian assailant shot dead.
The stabbing occurred around Beit Awwa in the southern West Bank. Clashes had also erupted in Hebron earlier in the day as Israeli troops destroyed the home of a Palestinian jailed for a deadly knife attack last year. The demolition occurred as Israel took further steps in its bid to deter violence and tamp down what it sees as incitement, also arresting a senior Hamas official.
Last week, the Israeli government ordered an intensification of punitive home demolitions in response to the wave of unrest. It says the controversial policy acts as a deterrent but critics say the main victims of such demolitions are relatives forced to pay for another person's actions.

 

UN chief in surprise visit to calm Israel-Palestinian unrest

AFP, JERUSALEM: UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to make an unannounced visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories Tuesday to try to calm nearly three weeks of violence, even as a new stabbing wounded a soldier. Young Palestinians have defied an Israeli security crackdown and calls for non-violence from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to carry out repeated knife and other attacks on Jews. There have also been violent protests across the Palestinian territories. International concern has mounted, with US Secretary of State John Kerry due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Germany this week and Abbas later at an unspecified location in the Middle East. In the latest incident on Tuesday, an Israeli soldier was stabbed during clashes near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron and the alleged 23-year-old Palestinian assailant shot dead. The stabbing occurred around Beit Awwa in the southern West Bank. Clashes had also erupted in Hebron earlier in the day as Israeli troops destroyed the home of a Palestinian jailed for a deadly knife attack last year. The demolition occurred as Israel took further steps in its bid to deter violence and tamp down what it sees as incitement, also arresting a senior Hamas official. Last week, the Israeli government ordered an intensification of punitive home demolitions in response to the wave of unrest. It says the controversial policy acts as a deterrent but critics say the main victims of such demolitions are relatives forced to pay for another persons actions.