Palestinians seek int'l intervention to end Israeli escalation in Jerusalem

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) consensus government on Sunday called on the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli escalation in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

In less than 24 hours, two Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in Israeli-Palestinian conflict in both east Jerusalem and all over the West Bank, according to officials and media reports.

Ihab Bseiso, spokesman of the government, said the current escalation "is part of Israel's attempts to undermine the political and international efforts of the PNA and undermine the two-state solution."

"Israel is trying to drag the whole region into a circle of violence," said Bseiso, who called on UN agencies and the international community "to pressure on Israel to stop its violations in the Palestinian territories."

He said that over the past few days, Israeli army has been carrying out intensive raids to Palestinian towns and villages, adding "the settlers' attacks on the Palestinians have also mounted."

"The only solution to this flaring conflict and Israeli violations is to end the Israeli military occupation of our Palestinian territories and establish the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital," he said.

Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian medical sources said that a Palestinian young man was shot dead by Israeli troops in east Jerusalem. Israeli police said the young man was killed after he tried to stab an Israeli teenager.

The sources said that Fadi Olwan, 19 years old from the village of Eissaweyeh near east Jerusalem, was killed with ten gun shots fired by an Israeli police force in the Old City.

The killing of Olwan came just a day after a Palestinian young man killed two Israelis and wounded two others when he stabbed four Israelis in the Old City of Jerusalem and then opened fire at another Israeli and killed him.

The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) announced that Muhanad Halabi is one of its members in the West Bank and he carried out the attack in revenge for the Israeli measures against al-Aqsa Compound in east Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, fierce clashes broke out on Sunday morning between the Palestinians and Israeli army forces in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, where at least 18 Palestinians were injured.

Security officials in the city said that an Israeli army force stormed the house of an Islamic Hamas movement activist called Qais al-Sa'di in Jenin refugee camp amid intensive gunfire.

Eyewitnesses said that dozens of young men in the refugee camp threw stones at the Israeli army forces, where soldiers fired back using live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters.

Tension between Israel and the Palestinians has been flaring all over the West Bank since Thursday after two Israelis were shot dead by Palestinian gunmen near the West Bank city of Nablus. Endit