During his visit to Tel Aviv on Monday, Blinken emphasized that a long-term peace vision is the "only way forward", reports Reuters.

He also condemns Friday's attack outside a synagogue in Jerusalem that resulted in seven people being killed.

- Friday's violence was more than an attack on individuals.

It was also an attack on the universal act of practicing one's faith, says Blinken, adding: 

- We condemn it in the strongest terms.

"Everyone's responsibility"

The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist by the EU, has claimed responsibility for the attack outside the synagogue.

The movement says it is revenge for Thursday's Israeli raid on a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank that left at least nine Palestinians dead.

- It is everyone's responsibility to take measures to calm tensions instead of igniting them, says Antony Blinken.

Will meet Netanyahu and Abbas

On Monday afternoon, the US Secretary of State met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Another meeting with the Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas awaits on Tuesday.

- Washington remains a staunch supporter of a two-state solution - the only way to a lasting solution to the conflict, Blinken said earlier on Monday, during his visit to Cairo.

At least 35 Palestinians, both armed and civilians, have been killed this year as a result of the increased violence, the AP reports, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

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Why is the violence escalating in Israel right now?

SVT's Middle East correspondent Samir Abu-Eid explains.

Photo: Denise Berg/SVT and Mahmoud Illean/AP/TT