US urges restraint amid violent clashes in West Bank

The United States on Monday called for Israelis and Palestinians to show restraint following days of violent protests in response to the suspicious death of a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody. "We call on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise maximum restraint as the situation in the West Bank remains tense. We're also conveying that message directly to Israeli and Palestinian officials. We urge both Palestinians and Israelis not only to refrain from provocative actions that could destabilize conditions on the ground but to consider positive steps, just re-establish trust and de- escalate the current tensions," State Department press officer Patrick Ventrell told reporters in Washington. Ventrell said Israel is looking into the incident very carefully, in which a 30 year-old Palestinian man, Arafat Jaradat died while detained by Israeli officials. Israeli prison service claimed he died of cardiac arrest, but an independent autopsy found no evidence of cardiac arrest. "We expect all parties to consider the results of the autopsy calmly and without inflammatory rhetoric," Ventrell said. Jaradat's death has inflamed already heightened tensions across the occupied Palestinian territory. Hundreds have clashed with Israeli soldiers during demonstrations supporting four hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held without charge in Israeli jails. Nine Palestinians were injured, one critically, when settlers used live rounds of fire in clashes near Nablus and two teenagers were reportedly hit with live rounds fired by Israeli soldiers.