JERUSALEM: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm during a surprise visit to Jerusalem on Tuesday ahead of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, in a high-profile gambit to bring an end to a monthlong wave of violence.

The visit comes amid unrest that erupted a month ago over tensions surrounding a Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims. It soon spread to Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem and then to the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. A spate of Palestinian attacks, most of which have involved stabbings, has caused panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of bloodshed.

The violence continued in the West Bank on Tuesday.

A Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a group of Israelis waiting at a bus stop at a junction on the outskirts of Jerusalem in the West Bank, the Israeli military said. He then attempted to stab bystanders. A civilian and a soldier were injured in the attack before the attacker was shot and killed, it said.

Earlier, a 24-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces after he stabbed an Israeli military officer and lightly wounded him, the Israeli military and Palestinian health officials said. The military said it happened during a “violent riot” of Palestinian demonstrators.

In a separate incident in the West Bank, an Israeli man was killed after being run over during a clash with Palestinians. The man exited his car after Palestinian demonstrators threw stones at it and he began to hit passing Palestinian cars with a large stick, according to an Associated Press photographer who witnessed the incident. The man hit a passing truck with the stick, and the truck ran the man over. The Israeli military confirmed his death.

The truck driver turned himself in, saying he hit the Israeli by accident while trying to swerve out of the way, according to a Palestinian security official.

“My visit reflects the sense of global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” Ban said. “I am here to encourage and support all efforts to lower tensions and prevent the situation from spinning out of control.”

Ban added, “It’s not too late to avoid a broader crisis.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli military arrested top Hamas official Hassan Yousef in the West Bank, saying he had been “actively instigating and inciting terrorism” by encouraging attacks against Israelis.

Also Tuesday, the Israeli military demolished the home of a Palestinian who killed an Israeli woman last year. Maher Hashlamoun rammed his car into 25-year-old Dalia Lemkus in the West Bank last year and stabbed her several times before being shot and killed.

His wife told Palestinian radio that soldiers evacuated their three-story building in Hebron and demolished the third floor apartment where her family lived.