US urges Palestine and Israel to practice restraint

The US has urged Palestine and Israel to practice restraint. US Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said late Friday that Washington is against violence between the two parties. "We certainly don’t want to see any violence by either side. We certainly, as you all know, support the rights of people everywhere to protest peacefully, and so we would just call for restraint," explained Toner in a press briefing. Toner's remarks came in response to a question regarding Palestinian protests on Land Day, which left one Palestinian killed and tens injured. The spokesperson has not commented on the report by Israeli news agency Haaretz which indicated that the Israelis have plans to annex 10% of the West Bank and allocate it for a settlement. He told reporters that he would not comment on secret plans explaining that he had not seen the story. He also added that the US's position concerning settlements was already known and that he would respond after reading the article.