Britain's Foreign Secretary Robin Cook called Tuesday on both Israelis and Palestinians to end the flare-up in violence, which has taken more than 50 lives in the past five days.
He ascribed no blame for the unrest, but said it was "vital that both sides find a way to end violence and go ahead with negotiations" to achieve peace.
"I very much hope an end to the violence ... and I appeal for restraint," Cook said.
"I hope these acts will remind everybody of the urgency of finding a solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, he said following talks with visiting Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Casoulides.
Israelis and Palestinians agreed to a ceasefire early Tuesday after five days of street battles between Palestinians and Israeli security forces left 56 dead, all but three of them Palestinians or Arab Israelis.
The violence erupted after Israeli opposition hard-liner Ariel Sharon visited Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound last Thursday.
The compound, on a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, lies at the heart of a dispute over sovereignty in Jerusalem that has prevented an overall Israeli-Palestinian peace accord - LONDON (AFP)
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