Al-Jazeera.com :
The European Union’s new foreign affairs chief has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying the world “cannot afford” another war in Gaza.
“We need a Palestinian state – that is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union,” Federica Mogherini said on Saturday during a visit to Gaza.
Her statement comes against a backdrop of soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions in occupied east Jerusalem, where there have been near-daily clashes in flashpoint neighbourhoods in recent weeks.
Tensions were further heightened by Israeli raid of the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to allow entry of far-right Jewish groups in the mosque, one of the holiest sites of Islam.
Israel has deployed more than 1,300 police across occupied East Jerusalem to prevent the violence.
On Saturday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a young Palestinian man during an alleged confrontation, triggered by the attempted arrest of a relative near Nazareth in Israel.
Dozens of angry youths set up barricades and set fire to tyres on the outskirts of the village of Kfar Kana following the killing of Kheir Hamdan.
Israeli police from the nearby Nazareth station claimed that the 22-year-old intervened in the arrest of one of his relatives, threatening the officers with a knife, according to a police statement.
After firing warning shots, the police shot him and he died on the way to hospital, it said.
The European Union’s new foreign affairs chief has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying the world “cannot afford” another war in Gaza.
“We need a Palestinian state – that is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union,” Federica Mogherini said on Saturday during a visit to Gaza.
Her statement comes against a backdrop of soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions in occupied east Jerusalem, where there have been near-daily clashes in flashpoint neighbourhoods in recent weeks.
Tensions were further heightened by Israeli raid of the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to allow entry of far-right Jewish groups in the mosque, one of the holiest sites of Islam.
Israel has deployed more than 1,300 police across occupied East Jerusalem to prevent the violence.
On Saturday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a young Palestinian man during an alleged confrontation, triggered by the attempted arrest of a relative near Nazareth in Israel.
Dozens of angry youths set up barricades and set fire to tyres on the outskirts of the village of Kfar Kana following the killing of Kheir Hamdan.
Israeli police from the nearby Nazareth station claimed that the 22-year-old intervened in the arrest of one of his relatives, threatening the officers with a knife, according to a police statement.
After firing warning shots, the police shot him and he died on the way to hospital, it said.
