President Barack Obama on Friday expressed concern about the outbreak of violence centered in Jerusalem and called on Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders to tamp down inflammatory rhetoric.
"We are very concerned about the outbreak of violence," Obama said at a news conference with visiting South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, according to the AFP news agency.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms violence directed against innocent people, and believe that Israel has a right to maintain basic law and order and protect its citizens from knife attacks, and violence on the streets," he added.
Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in the violence so far, and fresh protests erupted Friday after Palestinian Arabs torched Joseph's Tomb in the city of Shechem.
Earlier on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and reiterated his remarks in an interview on NPR radio, in which he said that Israelis have the right to defend themselves against violence in Jerusalem's Old City and everywhere.