A Palestinian protester runs for cover from a stun grenade fired by Israeli police during clashes in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan October 26, 2014.

In an urgent letter sent to Washington on Sunday night, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Americans to intervene in what he termed as “Israeli escalation in East Jerusalem.”

Abbas warned that if Israel continued with its current measures, including proposals that would allow Jews to pray at the Temple Mount compound, it would lead to an eruption of violence that would spiral out of control.

The president blames the Israeli government for recent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian rioters in East Jerusalem.

Clashes in Jerusalem continued on Sunday, as hundreds of Palestinians attended a symbolic funeral march in the mostly Arab neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Palestinian authorities have asked the U.N. Human Rights Council to appoint an impartial inquiry commission to investigate the death of eight Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2014.

The most recent death was that of a Palestinian-American teen Orwah Hammad from the village of Silwad who was shot and killed on Friday after being involved in a riot.

“We call on the U.N., the European Union and the United States to take immediate punitive actions so that Israel bears responsibility for the use of live weapons and the killing of Palestinian citizens,” PLO member Hanan Ashrawi said.

 
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