Mogherini warns against 'disproportionate reactions' in Middle East violence

(BRUSSELS) - European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned on Sunday against the escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories in separate phone calls to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas.

"(I) talked now with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas on escalation of violence. Need to stop acts of terror and to avoid disproportionate reactions," Mogherini said in a tweet, the day before a meeting of the EU's 28 foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead in the West Bank and four Israelis were wounded near a kibbutz Sunday as violence mounted following a Gaza air strike that killed a pregnant woman and toddler.

While Netanyahu and Abbas have sought to avoid an escalation, frustrated Palestinian youths have defied efforts to restore calm in recent days, leading to fears of a new uprising, or intifada, that will attract a severe crackdown by Israel.