ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Sunday condemned violent acts carried out by Israeli security forces against Palestinians and expressed serious concern at recent developments in Palestine.

Skirmishes have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Residents braced for possible further unrest as police stepped up security.

“We are seriously concerned at the recent alarming developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhary told Arab News on Sunday evening.

“Harassment of people coming for prayers, arrests of innocent Palestinians and other arbitrary measures, which have seen a surge during the holy month of Ramadan, are in clear violation of fundamental human rights,” Chaudhary said.

The spokesperson said Pakistan stood by the Palestinian people and expressed its full support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and east Jerusalem as its capital.

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The tensions began when police placed barricades outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, where Muslims traditionally gather to enjoy the evening after the daytime fast.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Its fate has been one of the most divisive issues in the peace process, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago.