Moscow urges the parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to refrain from actions leading to an escalation of the situation around East Jerusalem. This was stated in a commentary by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova distributed on Wednesday.
"We urge all sides to refrain from provocative statements or actions fraught with a violation of public tranquility and a new large-scale escalation of violence," she said.
According to Zakharova, Moscow is concerned about continued tensions in East Jerusalem and fears an additional aggravation of the situation amid an appeal before Israel's Supreme Court against the forced eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
"We are concerned about reports of ongoing tensions in East Jerusalem. In particular, there are concerns about Israeli security restrictions on Arab residents of the city in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The situation may be further exacerbated in light of the decision to reopen in the Israeli Supreme Court an appeal filed earlier by 4 Palestinian families against their forced eviction from the said neighborhood," the document said.
Zakharova pointed to Moscow's fears that in this context, calls by Israeli ultranationalist organizations for a "flag march" in Jerusalem through the Damascus Gate and the Muslim quarter of the Old City would lead to new clashes between Arab and Jewish residents of East Jerusalem as well as "mass protests in other occupied Palestinian territories."
"As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a member of the Quartet of international mediators for the Middle East settlement, Russia, in cooperation with all interested parties, will continue its vigorous efforts for the soonest resumption of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians for a comprehensive resolution of fundamental final status issues based on relevant UN Security Council and General Assembly decisions and the two-state principle," Zakharova stressed.
She said Moscow was ready to discuss the situation in East Jerusalem and problems of the Middle East settlement with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Tor Wennesland who was on a visit to the Russian capital on June 9 and 10.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS