UN Middle East envoy disturbed by upsurge in attacks

Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, on Monday said that he is disturbed by the recent violence over the past week, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

During this latest upsurge in attacks in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at least six Israelis were injured, Dujarric noted, adding that five Palestinians and one Jordanian national were killed while carrying out or allegedly carrying out attacks.

Mladenov reiterated the United Nations position that there can be no justification for terror and violence, the spokesman said. "He calls upon authorities on both sides to take measures to preserve calm and avoid escalation, especially during the upcoming period of the Jewish High Holy Days."

Israel's army said they shot dead a Palestinian youth in the West Bank on Saturday after he stabbed a soldier, the latest in a string of fatal incidents over the weekend.

A year-long spate of violence in Israel and the West Bank has killed at least 230 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than five million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their own state. Enditem