Palestinian worshippers run for cover from teargas, fired by Israeli police in east Jerusalem on July 21, 2017 (AFP)
Egypt, Sweden and France have called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss ways to address one of the deadliest outbreaks of Israeli-Palestinian violence in two years left five Palestinians killed and tens injured, Egyptian and Swedish diplomats said on Saturday.
"Sweden, France and Egypt request UNSC to urgently discuss how calls for de-escalation in Jerusalem can be supported," Carl Skau, Sweden's ambassador to the Security Council, said on Twitter.
Egyptian diplomats told Egypt's state-run news agency MENA on Saturday that the meeting is intended to discuss "calls for de-escalation amid ongoing clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in East Jerusalem."
However, it said the date of the hoped-for meeting had not yet been set.
Media reports, meanwhile, quoted diplomats as saying the meeting would take place on Monday.
On Friday, Egypt, which currently holds the Arab seat on the Security Council, called on Israel to stop violence against Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque site and in Jerusalem.
On Saturday, two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces as Israeli troops moved to prepare for the demolition of the home of a Palestinian who they say stabbed three Israeli settlers to death on Friday in the town of Kobar in the occupied West Bank.
Three Palestinians were killed and dozens injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli security forces prompted by Israel's installation of metal detectors at the entrances to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, in occupied east Jerusalem.
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