Obama 'concerned' by outbreak of Israel-Palestinian violence

US President Barack Obama expressed concern today about the outbreak of violence centered in Jerusalem and called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to tamp down inflammatory rhetoric.

"We are very concerned about the outbreak of violence," Obama said at a news conference with visiting South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms violence directed against innocent people, and believe that Israel has a right to maintain basic law and order and protect its citizens from knife attacks, and violence on the streets," he added.

"We also believe that it's important for both Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and Israeli elected officials, and President Abbas and other people in positions of power, to try to tamp down rhetoric that may feed violence or anger or misunderstanding," he said.