Israel summoned France’s ambassador on Monday in protest at a French proposal to send foreign observers to Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque, as diplomatic moves to end the violence gain steam.

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The row follows more than two weeks of near-relentless violence that has seen 41 Palestinians killed, including alleged assailants, while eight Israelis have died.

The unrest, fuelled by Palestinian fears of an Israeli attempt to change the rules governing the al-Aqsa mosque, has sparked fears of a full-blown Palestinian uprising.

Clashes at the compound between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in September preceded the current wave of violence.

The site, located in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, is sacred to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly he has no intention of changing the rules, though his government has temporarily restricted access to the site to men aged 45 or over.

On Sunday, the Israeli premier angrily rejected a draft proposal, reportedly submitted by France's ambassador to the UN, that would see international observers sent to the holy site.

"Israel cannot accept the French draft resolution at the UN Security Council (...). It doesn't mention Palestinian terrorism, and it calls for the internationalisation of the Temple Mount," he was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

Netanyahu is expected to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry in the coming days, amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts to halt the violence.

Kerry, who is currently touring Europe, has also said he will meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Bus station attack

Abbas is under pressure to speak out against the daily attacks on Israeli military and civilians, most of which have been carried out by young Palestinians wielding knives and believed to be acting on their own.

In the latest unrest, an Israeli soldier was killed on Sunday in a shooting at a bus station in the southern city of Beersheba, the first such attack after a day in which violence seemed to somewhat ebb.

Police said a man, thought to be Palestinian, entered the bus station armed with a pistol and knife, killing the soldier and wounding 10 other people, including four officers.

The gunman himself was then killed and an African bystander was shot by security forces who mistook him for a second gunman.

EN NW PKG EAST JERUSALEM BARRIERS 08h

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Elsewhere, clashes also broke out in the West Bank city of Hebron, where three attacks occurred on Saturday, while on the Gaza border, three Palestinians were moderately wounded by small calibre bullets during clashes with Israeli forces Sunday after they tried to breach the border fence.

Checkpoints have been set up in Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem, where many of the attackers have come from, and some 300 soldiers on Sunday began reinforcing police.

Israeli police also began erecting a wall between the Palestinian village of Jabel Mukaber and Jewish neighbourhood Armon Hanatziv to protect it from firebomb and stone attacks.

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv authorities have barred cleaning and maintenance employees from schools during times when students are present, with parents concerned over possible attacks against children.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)



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