During this meeting, too, Kerry voiced his condemnation of what he described as Palestinian “terrorism”.
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A Palestinian fatally stabbed an Israeli soldier at a West Bank gas station Monday before he was killed by security forces, and two Palestinian teenage girls in Jerusalem attacked a 70-year-old Palestinian, apparently mistaking him for an Israeli. It was the latest in a spate of violence that has sunk the chances of a renewed peace push during the Obama administration’s final year.
Ahmad Majdalani, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told Xinhua that the Palestinian side doesn’t see any “serious indications” to the resumption of peace talks, or at least implementing the bilateral agreement.
Kerry’s meeting with the Israeli leaders comes just a day after Netanyahu introduced new security measures in response to the recent surge in terrorist attacks.
US Secretary of State John Kerry holds a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, November 24, 2015.
The violence started amid unrest over the east Jerusalem holy site, known as the al-Aqsa compound to Muslims or Temple Mount for Jews, and spread into full-blown violence amid dim prospects of renewing the peace process.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, for its part, issued a statement on Monday accusing Israeli forces of fabricating stories about knife attacks and “planting” knives next to slain Palestinians.
Ashrawi slammed the Israeli prime minister for “disingenuously claim(ing) self-defense while labeling any form of Palestinian reaction as ‘terrorism'”.
Figures released Sunday by Israel’s first aid agency, Magen David Adom, show that since the beginning of October, 22 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.
Before departing Abu Dhabi, Kerry called to offer his condolences to the family of Ezra Schwartz, an 18-year-old yeshiva student from MA, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank last week.
According to the Swedish diplomat, the world community must play a major role in overcoming the current stage, to ensure a two-state solution, which means the realization of Palestinian aspirations for independence and security of Israelis.
“This is one of the rare things in which Israel stands alone”, Ghassan Khatib, a Vice President at Bir Zeit University and a former Palestinian government spokesman told The Media Line.
President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday received US Secretary of State John Kerry in the presidential headquarter in the city of Ramallah and discussed efforts to restore trust in the two-state solution. The main problem is the illegal settlements everywhere, all over.
Abbas demanded that the U.S. put pressure on Israel to “stop its aggression and provocations against the Palestinians”, the official said.
Many Palestinian groups have called for a day of anger across the occupied West Bank in protest against Kerry’s visit.
Around half of the Palestinians killed have been alleged attackers.
Amid so much violence, Kerry said Monday he would be traveling to Israel and the Palestinian territories without any “highfalutin, grandiose, hidden agenda”. He met with the two leaders last month, in Europe and in Jordan, in an earlier attempt to halt the current round of fighting. The script is well-trodden, with Kerry likely to ask both sides to avoid provocative actions. In practice, Netanyahu said, the civilian projects that the Palestinians are interested in will only be possible if the level of violence is lowered and Israel’s security needs are met.
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Meanwhile, Palestinian officials are not expecting any new ideas from Kerry to calm the situation.
