LONDON - Britain on Thursday condemned the "unacceptable" evictions of Palestinians in east Jerusalem and urged the Israeli authorities to avoid "such provocative and illegal actions", the Foreign Office said.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband spoke to Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday to discuss the "worsening" situation in Jerusalem, where Israeli police have razed Palestinian houses and where clashes erupted at the Al-Aqsa mosque on Sunday, it said.
During their conversation, Miliband "reiterated the importance of all sides acting to calm tensions," according to a statement from the Foreign Office.
"He also expressed serious concern about the continued and unacceptable evictions of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem and assured prime minister Fayyad that we would continue to press the Israeli authorities to desist from such provocative and illegal actions," it said.
Miliband also condemned the declaration by the Hamas movement on Wednesday that it would ban the organisation of elections in its Gaza stronghold.
"This betrays the Palestinians in Gaza who have suffered so much in the past year," the statement said.
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