UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Israel on Tuesday for a surprise visit aimed at ending weeks of violence in which 49 Palestinians and ten Israelis have been killed.
“My visit reflects global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” Ban said following a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
He went on to urge both Israel and the Palestinians to halt the current escalation of violence.
“We need to act fast or the situation on the ground will get worse,” he added.
A senior official from President Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian State, meanwhile, told Anadolu Agency that Abbas was expected to meet Ban early Wednesday when the latter visits the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian government, for its part, has demanded the launch of an international probe to investigate alleged Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
The government has also said that the current Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation authorities -- which some have described as a new “intifada” -- cannot be stopped by Israeli security measures alone.
