There are no comments.
Reuters/Jerusalem
Palestinians set fire to a Jewish shrine in the West Bank on Friday as the Islamist group Hamas called for a day of rage against Israel, and two weeks of turmoil in the region showed little signs of abating.
Israel's military said about 100 people rushed the tomb of the biblical patriarch Joseph, which is located in the Palestinian city of Nablus. They were pushed back by Palestinian security forces who arrived on site, but not before setting parts of it aflame.
"We view this incident with gravity and strongly condemn any attack on holy sites. We will find and arrest those who set the fire," the military said in a statement.
The unrest that has engulfed Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the most serious in years, has claimed the lives of 32 Palestinians and seven Israelis.
The Palestinian dead include 10 knife-wielding assailants, police said, as well as children and protesters shot in violent demonstrations. The Israelis were killed on the street or buses in random attacks.
There was, however, a respite from the near-daily attacks on Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council will hold a special meeting to discuss the situation. No resolution is planned for Friday, but there might be an attempt to get the council to issue a statement aimed at urging the two sides to curb the violence.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called for "rallies of anger and confrontations" on Friday in all West Bank cities.
The unrest has been triggered in part by Palestinians' anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, which is also revered by Jews as the location of two destroyed biblical Jewish temples.
Israel says it is keeping the status quo at the holy compound.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said he plans to travel to the Middle East soon to try to calm the violence.
"A suggestion was raised that John Kerry and I and King Abdullah (of Jordan) and others would meet," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
"I have no problem with that, we did that a year ago, it was actually fruitful. It could happen again," he said, adding that he was willing to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
There are no comments.
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.