New Delhi, May 15 (IANS): The Congress on Friday raised concern over the spiralling violence in the Palestinian territories and Israel and urged an immediate cessation of hostilities.

In a statement, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that the spiralling violence in East Jerusalem, Gaza and Israel, coinciding with the festival of Eid, is distressing and a matter of grave concern for the world.

He also said that the Palestinian peoples' right to pray at Al Asqa mosque without any restriction must always be respected and not violated.

"The orchestrated incidents in Jerusalem were outrageous and triggered tensions and violence," he said.

Noting that people of both Palestine and Israel "have a right to live with dignity in a secure environment, Sharma said that the escalation of conflict, air attacks on Gaza and the rocket attacks by Hamas have resulted in tragic loss of innocent human lives, especially the children and elderly and also injuries to many civilians.

"The aggravated destruction of public property and infrastructure has caused hardships and disruption," he said.

"Congress urges for immediate cessation of hostilities by both Israel and Hamas and calls for urgent intervention of the UN Security Council to restore peace.

"India, as a member of the UNSC, should proactively work to achieve this objective," Sharma added.