Jerusalem Crisis Escalates Amid Calm Pleas from Countries Worldwide
Countries worldwide have called for calm after days of violence spiraled into retaliatory attacks by Israel and Palestinians.
Gathogo Wanjiru 
Violence increased on Monday night after Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem. This has lead to the US, the European Union, and the UK calling Israel and the Palestinians to lower tensions as soon as possible.
In response, the Israeli military launched airstrikes against militant targets in the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian health officials in Gaza, 22 people including children had died in the strikes. Israel's military said at least 15 members of the Hamas group that rules Gaza were among those killed.
Hamas had threatened to strike after hundreds of Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police at a holy site in Jerusalem on Monday.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement said Hamas had "crossed a red line" and that Israel would respond "with great force".
The last few days have seen the worst violence in Jerusalem for years.
Increasingly crisis and confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a compound in Jerusalem's Old City have threatened to cause a wider conflict.
Palestinians have been angered with restrictions imposed on access to a compound where al-Aqsa mosque which is the third holiest site in Islam along with the Temple Mount the holiest site in Judaism.
On Tuesday morning, the Palestinian Red Crescent, a humanitarian group, said more than 700 Palestinians had been injured in clashes with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and across the West Bank.
