MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday urged senior Palestinian and Israeli diplomats by phone to do everything possible to prevent an escalation of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank, his ministry said.
“Sergey Lavrov called on the Israeli and Palestinian partners to show maximum responsibility and to refrain from any action that could cause a further deterioration of the situation,” he said in a statement.
Lavrov also said there was an “acute” need for the “Quartet” of international mediators to revive peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian representatives, according to the statement.
Israeli police cordoned off the family home of an armed Palestinian on Sunday in Jerusalem. He had killed seven people outside a synagogue the day after Israeli forces killed seven activists and two civilians in a raid in the West Bank.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)