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1st LD Writethru: UN chief to travel to Palestine, Israel to help defuse current tensions -- spokesman

Xinhua, October 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is travelling to the Middle East on Tuesday to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders in a bid to help defuse the current tensions in the region, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"The secretary-general has repeatedly expressed his anguish and deep concern at the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine," the spokesman said in a message emailed to the press here.

"In an effort to help defuse the current tensions, he is travelling to the region today (Tuesday 20 October 2015) to meet with (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Palestinian) President (Mahmoud) Abbas, and other senior officials."

"The secretary-general is expected to meet with Israeli and Palestinian victims of the recent hostilities and terror attacks," the spokesman added.

The visit comes amidst a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has so far seen the death of at least 40 Palestinians and eight Israelis.

A series of deadly clashes between Palestinians and Israelis, including Israeli security forces, has marked much of October, with incidents reported in more than 50 different locations, including in East Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus.

The trip follows a message by the secretary-general on Monday, when he took to the airwaves to speak directly to the peoples of Israel and Palestine.

The secretary-general urged the leaders on both sides to end the "posturing and brinkmanship" and get serious about pursuing the two-state solution -- "the only solution capable of durably stanching the bloodshed hatred and fear."

Ban called on both sides not to allow extremists to further escalate the conflict and to maintain the status quo in the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews. Endi