UK, EU Call for De-escalation After Citizens Killed in Israel–Palestine Clash

Israeli medics and policemen check a damaged car at the scene of a shooting attack, in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank on April 7, 2023. (Gil Eliyahu/Reuters)

The UK and the European Union called for calm in Israel after British and Italian citizens were killed in two separate attacks on April 7.

It comes amid another flare-up of the Israel–Palestine conflict during the religious month of April, which contains Judaism’s Passover, Christianity’s Easter, and Islam’s Ramadan.

On the morning of April 7, two British-Israeli sisters in their 20s died in a car crash after their car was shot at in the Harma Junction in the Jordan Valley, and their mother was seriously injured.

In a separate incident in Tel Aviv, a car rammed into pedestrians at the Tel Aviv Promenade on the night of April 7, killing Italian tourist Alessandro Parini and wounding several people. All victims are reportedly British and Italian tourists.

The attacks occurred shortly after the Israeli military launched retaliation air strikes across Gaza and Lebanon on Hamas terrorist group targets after rockets were shot from south Lebanon toward northern Israeli areas.

Smoke and flames rise during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, on April 6, 2023. (Bashar Talib/Reuters)

EU High Representative Josep Borrell and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said they recognise Israel’s right to defend itself and called on both sides to exercise restraint.

West Bank Shooting

The incident in the Jordan Valley was initially reported as a traffic collision between an Israeli car and a Palestinian car, but bullet holes were later found in the Israeli car.

According to The Times of Israel, troops found 22 casings of bullets that are usually used with a Kalashnikov rifle.

Israeli medics and policemen check a damaged car at the scene of a shooting attack, in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank on April 7, 2023. (Gil Eliyahu/Reuters)

Israel Defense Forces wrote in a statement on Twitter on April 7 that soldiers were “blocking routes adjacent to the scene” and were “in pursuit of the terrorists.”

“With great sorrow we received an update on a shocking terrorist attack in which terrorists shot a car including a mother and her two daughters, residents of Efrat,” mayor of the Efrat settlement Oded Revivi said on April 7.

He said the mother was in critical condition and the father was driving in another car in front of them car when the attack happened and he had to turn around to witness what happened to his wife and daughters.

A spokesman for the UK’s Foreign Office said: “We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual.”

Tel Aviv Car Attack

The driver in the car-ramming incident in Tel Aviv is a 45-year-old resident of Kfar Kasem, according to Israel Police.

The driver drove “from south to north on the bike path of the Tel Aviv boardwalk” at 9: 35 p.m. local time, hitting six pedestrians, before turning over on the lawn of the Charles Clore Garden, the police said on Twitter.

A general view of the scene of an attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 7, 2023. (Nir Elias/Reuters)

“As a result of the car-ramming, a 36-year-old foreigner was pronounced dead at the scene, and five others (17, 70, 74, 49, 54) were lightly injured, and another 18-year-old was shocked,” the police said.

A police officer who was nearby went to the scene with Tel Aviv municipality inspectors after hearing a noise, and “noticed that the driver was trying to reach for a weapon he had in his possession,” the police wrote in an earlier Twitter thread. “The police officer and the inspectors neutralized the terrorist.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry later said seven people were wounded, including two with serious injuries.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on April 7 expressed “deep sorrow and condolences” over the death of Alessandro Parini, an Italian citizen who was killed in the attack, and “solidarity with the State of Israel for the cowardly attack that hit him.”

Israel’s foreign minister on April 8 said he sends “deepest condolences” to Parini’s family and friends, and to the government and the people of Italy.

According to The Jerusalem Post, all seven people injured were tourists and “British and Italian citizens.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the British Foreign Office for confirmation but received no response by press time.

Calls for De-escalation

In a statement on April 7, Cleverly said the UK “condemns the indiscriminate rocket attacks from southern Lebanon and Gaza and recognises Israel’s right to self-defence,” adding, “Now is the time for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.”

“At the convergence of Passover, Ramadan, and Easter, the UK calls for all parties to respect the historic Status Quo arrangements at Jerusalem’s holy sites and cease all provocative action,” the statement reads.

Israeli policemen stand next to smoke from a fire following incoming rockets from Lebanon to Israel in Bezet, northern Israel, on April 6, 2023. (Fadi Amun/Reuters)

The latest round of rocket attacks on Israel was launched after Israeli police stationed at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque forcibly dispersed crowds of worshippers who chanted praise for Hamas—a Palestinian militant group labeled as a terrorist group by countries and jurisdictions including the UK, the EU, and the United States.

Cleverly said the UK “is a strong supporter of freedom of religion or belief and calls for places of worship to be respected,” and condemned “the Israeli police violence at the Al Aqsa Mosque.”

“We value Jordan’s important role as custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem,” he said.

“When Israeli security forces conduct operations, they must ensure they are proportionate and in accordance with international law. Israel and the Palestinian Authority must take steps to honour the commitments agreed at Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba.”

Cleverly said, “Peace will only be sustainable if both Israelis and Palestinians recommit themselves to a negotiated settlement, leading to a two-state solution of a secure Israel side by side with a viable Palestinian State.”

In a similar statement on April 8, Borrell said, “Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time, any response must be proportionate. The EU calls for an immediate end to the ongoing violence. Everything must be done to prevent the conflict from spreading.”

The EU foreign minister urged “all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to avoid further escalation and promote calm for the ongoing religious holidays.”