UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on Tuesday for an end to violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Speaking during a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Ban said incitement and terrorism were a major obstacle to peace.
The Secretary General also said he met with the family of a Palestinian boy mistakenly killed by Israeli troops on Tuesday (June 21) while responding with gunfire to a petrol bomb and rock attack on Israeli vehicles in the occupied West Bank.
“This evening I had a very moving meeting with the family of Mohammed Badran, a 15 year old boy tragically killed last week in an incident the once again raises questions about the appropriate use of force. Continuing violence, terrorism, and incitement are incompatible with advancing a negotiated two state solution,” said Ban.
The military said several Palestinians threw petrol bombs and stones at vehicles, injuring three civilians, on a highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that traverses the West Bank. Israeli media reports said two of those hurt were foreign tourists.
During the same conference, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke out against the “continued Israeli occupation and settlements, which are contradictory to peace.”
Earlier in the day, the Secretary General visited the Gaza strip, asking that the “suffocating” blockade on the coastal enclave be lifter, a day after Israel said the naval bloackade of Gaza would continue under a deal with Turkey to normalize ties.
Over the course of a 48-hour visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Ban met with Israeli President Rivlin and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ban will likely encourage the leaders to engage with the Quartet on its recommendations in a forthcoming report on creating the conditions for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.