UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonReuters

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged Israel on Tuesday to conduct a full-scale investigation into recent clashes in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. 

He also criticized the demolitions carried out by Israeli security forces on Tuesday of two homes belonging to Palestinian Arab terrorists.

Ban said a "prompt and transparent" probe of the recent clashes between IDF forces and Arab rioters in Bethlehem on Monday in which a 13-year-old was killed would serve to determine "whether the use of force was proportional."

Apparently unbeknownst to Ban, the IDF already conducted an investigation into Abdel Rahman Abdullah's death, admitting a soldier mistakenly shot the child while aiming at a terrorist throwing rocks and firebombs at security forces. The youth evidently stood right next to the terrorist. 

Meanwhile, more Arab rioting erupted on Tuesday, including in Bethlehem following the funeral of the teenage boy.

Ban said that the latest clashes were "yet another worrisome sign of violence potentially spiraling out of control," although he neglected to mention the four Israelis slaughtered in two separate terror attacks in the last five days. 

He added that demolishing the homes of Palestinian Arab terrorists could "inflame tensions still further" after Israel destroyed the homes of Mohammed Jabis, who drove his tractor into a Jerusalem bus last year, and Ghassan Abu Jamal, one of the terrorists who massacred Jews at prayer in Har Nof last November. 

The UN chief called for "urgent action by both sides" to curb the violence including through security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas said earlier Tuesday that he wanted to avoid an escalation of violence with Israel, although the words ring hollow given his call for violence last month to block Jewish "filth" from visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 

Israel, meanwhile, passed on Tuesday a slew of anti-terror measures, including security reinforcements, construction of new roads in Judea-Samaria and new legislation to shorten the legal process to demolishing terrorists' homes

AFP contributed to this report.