Kerry conceded his visit had none of the ambitious agendas of past trips and was primarily focused on stemming the violence. That is something that has been made evident by their repeated rejections of peace offers that would have ended the Israeli presence on the West Bank and given them the independent state they say they want.
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“I am pleased to stand here with you… to express our outrage at this kind of violence, to condemn this violence, and to make it clear that Israel not only has a right to defend itself; it has an obligation to do so”, Kerry said before holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu also told Kerry that he was willing to “improve the security and economic situation for Palestinians in the West Bank” only when the wave of terrorist attacks stopped, The Times of Israel reported.
Israel occupied the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories, where Palestinians wish to establish a state according to the two-state solution, in the 1967 Mideast War.
Eighteen Israelis have been killed, mostly in stabbings, since mid-September.
“My daughter went to the Hawara checkpoint today to seek revenge in her own hands against the Israelis who have stolen our land and continue to kill innocent Palestinian people”, Mr. Qattanani, an imam at a neighborhood mosque, said in an interview.
The past week has been the deadliest of the outburst thus far.
On Monday, a Palestinian had reportedly stabbed two Israeli soldiers on the edge of the West Bank on Monday, killing one of them before being shot dead, the Israeli army said. On Sunday, a 21-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death by a Palestinian in the West Bank, and last Thursday, five people were killed in stabbing and shooting attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv. “This is an effort to see if we can get some concrete steps in place – begin to build them, maybe – that could calm things down a little bit so people aren’t living in absolute, daily terror that they might be stabbed or driven into or shot trying to walk around their city”.
On Monday, Netanyahu announced several measures to combat Palestinian attackers, including searches on Palestinian vehicles traveling on West Bank roads, setting up a bypass to the Gush Eztion junction for Israelis, and revoking work permits for families of Palestinian attackers.
Security camera footage appeared to show the girls – apparently cousins aged 14 and 16 – in school uniform chasing a man with scissors before being shot by a member of the security forces.
America’s broader concerns are the same and Kerry nearly surely pressed both sides in private to avoid provocative actions.
This week, a Palestinian radio station playing music that glorified violence was forcibly closed.
Kerry arrived in Israel on Tuesday morning for a short visit, his first since the breakdown of peace talks in 2014.
Abbas demanded that the USA put pressure on Israel to “stop its aggression and provocations against the Palestinians”, the official said.
Erekat said Abbas reiterated during the meeting his commitment to a two-state solution.
Before meeting with Kerry, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there can be no peace when Israel is facing an “onslaught of terror”. “They’re in the mood for being tough”.
For his part, Netanyahu says that the global community should support Israel’s fight against terrorism, which he says is “the battle of civilization against barbarism”.
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The annual Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is being celebrated at the United Nations, against the backdrop of the recent dramatic uptick in violence in the region.
