JERUSALEM // Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces on Friday, as clashes erupted across the West Bank and along the Gaza border.
It brought the number of Palestinians killed in the latest round of violence to 39, with hundreds more wounded. Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded.
It came as the Israeli ambassador to Washington said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would meet US secretary of state John Kerry in Berlin next week.
“That discussion will be, ‘OK, how do we get back to where we were in order to calm things down’,” Ron Dermer said.
Mr Kerry said on Thursday that he hoped to travel to the Middle East “in the coming days” to try to de-escalate the situation.
Israeli fire killed two Palestinians and wounded 98 others in clashes along the border in Gaza on Friday, while another Palestinian was shot dead in the West Bank town of Beit Furik, Palestinian medics said.
Outside the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, a Palestinian disguised as a news photographer was shot dead after he stabbed and wounded a soldier, according to the army.
Photos spread online showing the man wearing a shirt with the word “press” stamped on it and a brightly coloured vest.
Palestinians had called for a “Friday of revolution” against Israel, as Jerusalem police barred men under 40 from attending prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque.
Meanwhile, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas condemned a fire at a site revered by Jews in the West Bank.
Joseph’s Tomb, which is situated inside a compound in the Palestinian refugee camp of Balata, in the northern city of Nablus, was set on fire overnight by Palestinians.
Mr Abbas said the illegal arson “offends our culture and our religion and our morals”.
A committee would investigate and the damage would be repaired, he added.
The shrine has been the scene of recurring violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Many Jews believe it to be the final resting place of the biblical Joseph, while Muslims believe that an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yussef (Joseph) Dawiqat was buried there two centuries ago.
The site is under Palestinian control and off-limits to Israelis except on escorted trips organised by the army.
Later on Friday, Israel rejected Palestinian calls for a protection force to be deployed in east Jerusalem to quell violence around the Al Aqsa mosque compound.
“Let me be crystal clear – Israel will not agree to any international presence on the Temple Mount. Such a presence would be a change in the status quo,” Israeli deputy ambassador David Roet told the UN Security Council.
The 15-member council met in an emergency session to discuss weeks of escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the territories.
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour urged the council to “urgently intervene to end this aggression against our defenceless Palestinian people” and called for “international protection”.
He said Israeli security forces must withdraw from “contact points” with the Palestinians, in particular in east Jerusalem.
There have been repeated clashes at the compound. Palestinians fear Israel will seek to change rules governing the site, which allow Jews to visit but not pray so as to avoid provoking tensions.
Israel has taken unprecedented measures this week, including setting up checkpoints in Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem. This is despite the Israeli government’s long-standing assertion that the city is united.
In one area of the city, men passing through a checkpoint on Friday said they lined up and were ordered by troops to lift their hands and shirts to show they were unarmed before being allowed to pass.
* Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
