MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman reiterated its constant stance rejecting and condemning all forms of violence and terrorism that target civilians and destabilise security and stability, calling on the international community to undertake its responsibilities to end the dangerous escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories that claimed the lives of Palestinian and Israeli civilians, the latest of which was an attack on a synagogue in East Jerusalem.
The Sultanate of Oman reaffirmed its stern attitude by calling on the international community to achieve a just and comprehensive peace and support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the two-state solution and the resolutions of the international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military was sending more troops into the occupied West Bank, a day after a Palestinian gunman shot dead seven people on the outskirts of Jerusalem and another shooting attack in the city on Saturday wounded two people.
The attacks took place towards the end of a month of growing confrontation and follow an Israeli raid in the West Bank that killed nine Palestinians, including seven gunmen, and cross-border fire between Israel and Gaza.
Saudi Arabia has warned of the situation between Palestinians and Israelis escalating further after an attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem, the kingdom's foreign ministry said on Saturday.
"The Kingdom condemns targeting civilians, stressing the necessity of stopping the escalation, reviving the peace process and ending the occupation," the ministry added in a statement.
The European Union denounced attacks in Jerusalem and urged Israel to only use lethal force as a last resort.
"The European Union fully recognises Israel's legitimate security concerns, as evidenced by the latest attacks, but it has to be stressed that lethal force must only be used as a last resort when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life," said the bloc's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell.
Seven people died on Friday in a gun attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem and two others were wounded in an attack in the city on Saturday morning. The shootings came after nine Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Borrell said the EU "strongly condemns" the attacks in Jerusalem, which it called "acts of insane violence and hate".
He also stressed that Israeli forces had killed 30 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the year.
Borrell added that last year's toll, when "more than 150 people were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including 30 children", was "the highest number since the end of the second intifada in 2005".
He said it was "urgent... to reverse this spiral of violence and engage in meaningful efforts to restart peace negotiations. We call on all parties not to react to provocations." - Agencies
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