Asia

Home page

Asia

Israel eases Al-Aqsa limits as 90 wounded in Gaza, West Bank

24 October 2015 01:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israel lifted age limits for prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound Friday in an apparent bid to ease tensions as nearly 90 people were injured in clashes in Gaza and the West Bank, APA reports quoting AFP.

While thousands of Muslims prayed without incident at the ultra-sensitive site, young Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, leaving scores injured by Israeli gunfire, according to emergency services.

The international community has scrambled to defuse a wave of violence that many fear heralds a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was time for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to meet face to face.

"There is no substitute to direct talks," he said after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

US Secretary of State John Kerry held long talks with Netanyahu in Berlin on Thursday, voicing hope that "we can seize this moment and pull back from the precipice".

The top American diplomat is due to hold talks with Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II at a meeting in Amman on Saturday.

Kerry, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Ban -- members of the Middle East peacemaking Quartet -- met on Friday in Vienna and issued a call for Israel to work with Jordan, historic steward of the Al-Aqsa compound.

A Quartet statement said it "encourages Israel to work together with Jordan to uphold the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem in both word and practice."

It also called for "maximum restraint and avoidance of provocative rhetoric and actions."

The appeals came as tensions showed little sign of easing, with Palestinian movements holding a "day of rage" Friday against Israel.

Youths lobbed stones at Israeli police who responded with tear gas and gunfire at checkpoints in the occupied West Bank, where 20 Palestinians sustained gunshot wounds.