“The response must not be of the kind – and this is what I say in other situations where the response is such that it results in extra-judicial executions, or is disproportionate in that the number of people killed on that side exceeds the original number of deaths many times over”, she said.
Advertisement
“I’ve had a lot of discussions with both sides over the past three years, and let me tell you, the level of distrust between them has never been more profound”, Kerry said Saturday.
Numerous 114 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces since October 1 were shot dead after allegedly stabbing – or attempting to stab – Israelis.
“Without the PA security forces, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) could be forced to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers to the West Bank indefinitely to fill the void”, Kerry said.
Kerry urged both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to recommit to the concept of a negotiated two-state solution in order to give both peoples, but particularly the Palestinians, hope that a resolution to the long-running conflict is at least possible.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom blamed Israel for conducting “extrajudicial executions” of Palestinians. Opposition politicians, intellectuals and retired military commanders are issuing increasingly strident warnings that never-ending violence awaits if Israel continues to occupy millions of angry Palestinians who can not vote in its national elections.
The peace process is not futile, Kerry concluded.
FILE – In this Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 file photo, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, looks on as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, in Jerusalem.
Kerry also criticised Israel’s continued expansion of Jewish settlements in areas that the Palestinians claim as part of a future state, noting Palestinians were prevented from construction activity in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
Twenty-two Israelis or foreigners have been killed over the same period.
Wallstrom last month raised ire in Israel when she seemed to imply that there was a connection between Palestinian attacks and their “desperate situation”. “This will not happen, and we will continue to protect the lives of Israel’s citizens”.
Israel occupied the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories in the 1967 Mideast War.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and rejected US warnings that Israel was devolving toward a single state. “Israel has the right and the obligation to defend itself”.
Advertisement
And another 72 Palestinians, said by Israel to have been attackers, have been killed.
