France says international framework needed to push Israelis, Palestinians to peace

France asks that there is action, not only from the two countries, but the international community

PARIS: France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday it was vital the international community push Israel and the Palestinians to reach peace because the situation was getting out of control.

"The situation is extremely tense. Several times you have heard me say that to do nothing risked allowing things to enflame ... well this is what is happening today," Fabius told lawmakers.

Read: Israeli narrative, Palestinian helplessness

"So France asks that there is action, not only from the two countries Palestine and Israel, who need to work together, but an international framework to negotiate peace."

Read: Surge in violence tests loyalties of Israeli Arabs

Seven Israelis and around 30 Palestinians, some of them assailants, have been killed since October 1, in a wave of bloodshed fuelled by Palestinians’ rage over what they see as Israel changing a decades-old religious status quo at Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine.

Some protests in Arab towns inside Israel have turned violent, with demonstrators blocking roads, throwing stones, firecrackers and burning tyres at police and scores have been arrested. A general strike by Arab workers in Israel on Tuesday shut shops and business throughout Israel’s Arab towns.