Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Lavrov urged Israelis and Palestinians to show “maximum responsibility” and refrain from any action that could cause “further deterioration of the situation” in calls today with their counterparts, the Israeli Eli Cohen and Palestinian Riyad Al Maliki.

The head of Russian diplomacy called on Palestinians and Israelis to do everything possible to avoid an escalation of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank, his ministry said in a statement.

“Sergey Lavrov called on the Israeli and Palestinian partners to show maximum responsibility and refrain from any actions that could cause further deterioration of the situation,” the statement says.

According to the Russian ministry, during these talks, “the Russian side stressed that Moscow is seriously concerned about a new cycle of violence” in the region.

According to the statement, Lavrov also said that the “quartet” of international mediators urgently needed to resume peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

On Saturday, Russian diplomacy had already urged all parties to show “maximum restraint” in the wake of Friday and Saturday attacks in East Jerusalem, following Thursday’s deadly Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli police today sealed off the Jerusalem home of the family of a Palestinian militant who killed seven people near a synagogue the day after an Israeli raid in the West Bank killed seven militants and two civilians.

Also today, Israeli guards killed a Palestinian in the West Bank, and the violence of recent days has raised fears of a new outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

AFP-Reuters