Israel's Bennett speaks to UN chief on Israeli-Palestinian tensions

JERUSALEM, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Saturday held a phone conversation with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the recent development of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the prime minister's office said.

Bennett told the UN chief that Israel is "the stabilizing force" in the conflicts. "If we did not uphold order, tens of thousands of Muslims would not be able to pray," a premier office's statement quoted him as saying.

His remarks came after weeks of tension in Jerusalem, where the Palestinians and the Israeli police clashed again at the holy site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Bennett also expressed his disappointment "at the absence of condemnation by the UN for the firing of rockets at Israel," said the statement.

Several rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza in the past week after months of quiet. In response, Israel announced the temporary closure of the sole pedestrian crossing from Gaza to Israel, though thousands of Gazans cross into Israel on a daily basis to make a living.

Last year, clashes at the holy site led to an 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.