International Pressure on Israel Mounts

Jordan warned Israel on Sunday to stop attacks on worshippers in the Aqsa mosque in Yerushalayim and said it would be stepping up international pressure, an official statement said.

Canada and the Middle East Quartet (the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia) condemned on Sunday the violence in Yerushalayim and demanded that planned evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Yerushalayim cease.

In a joint statement, the Quartet said, in part: “We are alarmed by the provocative statements made by some political groups, as well as the launching of rockets and the resumption of incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel, and attacks on Palestinian farmland in the West Bank.

“The Envoys noted with serious concern the possible evictions of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for generations in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods in east Jerusalem and voice opposition to unilateral actions, which will only escalate the already tense environment,” it added.

“We call upon [the] Israeli authorities to exercise restraint and to avoid measures that would further escalate the situation during this period of Muslim Holy Days,” the Quartet stated.

“We call on all sides to uphold and respect the status quo at the holy sites. All leaders have a responsibility to act against extremists and to speak out against all acts of violence and incitement.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the violence and urged restraint in a statement sharply critical of Israel

“The expropriation of land and property located on it, as well as the creation of settlements by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem, have no legal force,” the ministry said.

“Such actions are a violation of international law and impede the achievement of a peaceful settlement based on the creation of two states within the 1967 borders – Palestine and Israel – coexisting in peace and security.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of Jordanians protested the pending eviction of Palestinian families from the east Yerushalayim neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah outside the Israeli embassy in Amman, according to The Times of Israel.

A smaller protest against the planned evictions was held by Palestinians and their supporters in Berlin.

And from Ankara, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a “terror state” after Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at rock-hurling Palestinian youth on Friday, Reuters said.