JERUSALEM

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Israel on Tuesday for a surprise visit aimed at ending weeks of violence in which 49 Palestinians and 10 Israelis have been killed.

“My visit reflects global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” Ban said following a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

He went on to urge both Israel and the Palestinians to halt the current escalation of violence.

“We need to act fast or the situation on the ground will get worse,” he added.

A senior official from President Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian State, meanwhile, told Anadolu Agency that Abbas was expected to meet Ban early Wednesday when the latter visits the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian government, for its part, has demanded the launch of an international probe to investigate alleged Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.

The government has also said that the current Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation authorities -- which some have described as a new “intifada” -- cannot be stopped by Israeli security measures alone.

- More Palestinians killed

On Monday, three more Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank and blockaded Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, for his part, said a Palestinian was shot and killed after using his vehicle to carry out an attack near the Jewish-only Gush Etzion settlement near the West Bank city of Hebron.

Earlier Monday, another Palestinian was reportedly killed in Hebron after he allegedly stabbed an Israeli soldier.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Odai al-Masalmeh, 24, was killed at the scene after being shot in the head at close range.

Yet another Palestinian was killed in the Gaza Strip during clashes with Israeli army troops near the Erez border crossing, Ashraf al-Qodra, a spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry, said.

“Ahmad al-Sarhi, a 27-year-old Palestinian, was killed after being shot in the chest, while five others were injured,” he added.

The latest violence comes amid a wave of alleged Palestinian knife attacks over the past 18 days, which have left ten Israelis dead and 112 injured, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom paramedic service.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Monday’s deaths bring the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this month to 48, including 10 children and one woman.

Thirty-one Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, 15 in the Gaza Strip and one Arab-Israeli was killed in the city of Beersheba in southern Israel.

Over the same period, at least 1,900 Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire, while thousands have suffered temporary asphyxia as a result of excessive teargas, the ministry said. 

- Punitive measures

The Israeli authorities, meanwhile, have responded to the violence by stepping up security procedures against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

On Monday alone, the Israeli army arrested 49 Palestinians from across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including senior Hamas member Ahmad Yousef.

In Jerusalem, acting Israeli Police Chief Bentzi Sau on Tuesday morning announced a plan to arrest hundreds of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem for “rioting”.

Last week, Israel’s security cabinet announced a fresh raft of punitive measures to be applied against Palestinians who allegedly attack Israelis.

The new measures allow the authorities to demolish the homes of alleged Palestinian attackers in both East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The security cabinet decision also allows the authorities to revoke the citizenship of alleged attackers.

What’s more, the fresh raft of measures allows Israeli police to seal off Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, the site of recent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian youth.

Hani al-Issawi, a resident of East Jerusalem’s Issawiya village, told Anadolu Agency that Israeli police and army troops had sealed the village’s entrances.

“No one is allowed to leave Issawiya by car. The village is totally cut off and sealed by concrete blocks,” he said.

“Anyone who wants to leave the village by foot is subject to strict scrutiny [by Israeli security personnel],” he added.