MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) - Moscow urges Israelis and the Palestinians to refrain from any provocative actions that could exacerbate the situation in the Palestinian territories, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"We believe that the most important thing today is the parties' compliance with historical notions and existing agreements, the avoidance of any provocative actions that could further exacerbate the situation in the Palestinian territories, which remains extremely tense in light of the United States' opening of its embassy in Jerusalem on May 14 and the wave of mass Palestinian protests caused by it," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
It said that serious tensions surrounding Jerusalem and the holy sites there remain.
"According to the latest information, over 2,000 Jews, guarded by the Israeli police, entered the territory of the Al-Aqsa Mosque without coordinating with the Islamic Waqf, which manages the Islamic holy sites there, during the events dedicated to Jerusalem Day, celebrated by the Israelis on May 13," it said.