UN Security Council to meet next week on Jerusalem violence

The UN Security Council will hold closed-door talks on Monday about deadly Israeli-Palestinian unrest over new security measures at a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site, diplomats said.

The meeting — requested by Sweden, France and Egypt — would be to "urgently discuss how calls for de-escalation in Jerusalem can be supported," said Sweden's political affairs coordinator Carl Skau.

Tensions have risen throughout the past week because of new Israeli security measures at the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The site in Jerusalem's Old City that includes the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock has been a focal point for Palestinians.

Friday's violence — a stabbing attack that killed three Israelis and clashes which left three Palestinians dead — was among the most severe in recent years.

Fresh clashes

On Saturday, two Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli forces as the army moved in to seal off an attacker's home.

Palestinian youths hurled stones and petrol bombs as the army used a bulldozer to close off the 19-year-old attacker's West Bank village and prepare his house for probable demolition.

Israel frequently punishes the families of attackers by razing or sealing their homes as a deterrent, although rights groups say this amounts to collective punishment.

Clashes also flared in east Jerusalem and other Palestinian villages in the West Bank near Jerusalem, police said, adding that anti-riot measures were used against them.

At the Qalandiya crossing between the West Bank and Jerusalem, clashes wounded at least eight Palestinians, the Palestinian health ministry said.

A Palestinian died of wounds suffered in clashes east of Jerusalem, the ministry said. It said 17-year-old Oday Nawajaa was hit by Israeli live fire at Al-Azariya.

Another Palestinian, 18, died nearby when a petrol bomb exploded prematurely.