UN Security Council to hold urgent meeting on Jerusalem violence

The UN Security Council will hold an urgent meeting on Monday morning to discuss the violence unfolding in Jerusalem, diplomats said.

According to the UN mission of China, president of the UN Security Council for July, the meeting will be held behind closed doors.

"Sweden, France and Egypt request UN Security Council to urgently discuss how calls for deescalation in Jerusalem can be supported," said Security Council coordinator of the mission of Sweden Carl Skau on his Twitter account on Saturday.

Three Israelis were killed on Friday in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian in a West Bank settlement.

The attack followed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Jerusalem's Old City, in which three Palestinians died.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Middle East Quartet -- Russia, the US, the European Union and the UN -- expressed concerns over the escalating tensions.

"The Quartet envoys reiterate that violence deepens mistrust and is fundamentally incompatible with achieving a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said the statement.

--IANS

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