Jerusalem: Arriving in Jerusalem amid the bloodiest violence in years, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israelis and Palestinians to ease tensions while he reaffirmed a long-stalled peace vision of two states side by side as the only path forward.
Blinken focused censure on a Palestinian gun spree outside a synagogue that put Israel on high alert but also cautioned against any celebration or avenging of such bloodshed.
Seven people were shot dead in Friday’s attack by an East Jerusalem man who was later killed by police. Lionised by many fellow Palestinians, he had no known links to militant groups.
A day earlier, Israel carried out an unusually deep raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, killing 10 residents, most of them gunmen. At least 35 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, have died in violence surging since January 1, medical officials say.
“It is the responsibility of everyone to take steps to calm tensions rather than inflame them,” Blinken told reporters after landing in Tel Aviv.
Friday’s rampage, he said, “was more than an attack on individuals. It was also an attack on the universal act of practising one’s faith. We condemn it in the strongest terms.
“And we condemn all those who celebrate these and any other acts of terrorism that take innocent lives, no matter who the victim is or what they believe. Calls for vengeance against more innocent victims are not the answer.”
Read the article by Simon Lewis in The Sydney Morning Herald.