Palestinians have launched 96 knife attacks, vehicle rammings and shootings against Israelis since early October, the Israeli foreign ministry says.
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With his bid to shepherd talks on a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory frozen since mid-2014, Kerry said his latest mission had the more limited aim of lowering tension.
Regarding reports of Kerry’s request to allow Palestinian building, Toner said, “We’ve been very clear not to get into specifics of some of the confidence-building measures or some of the efforts that we want to see, affirmative actions that we want to see both sides take”.
After the talks with Netanyahu ended, Kerry spokesman John Kirby said the two discussed Syria and the Islamic State group as well as “steps that can be taken to stop the violence in Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank”.
However, Kerry’s words ignore what the discrepancy in the number of lives lost reveals: Israelis encounter violence through (the fear of) occasional, isolated attacks, while Palestinians are subject to a regime of systematic extrajudicial killings, dispossession, displacement, and political persecution.
Also on November 23, a Palestinian assailant who attempted to stab an Israeli soldier near Nablus in the West Bank was shot and killed, the IDF said.
Abbas and other Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of using excessive force to quell attacks, saying that in many cases assailants could have been stopped and detained without being shot and killed.
At the same time, he said he would speak with Netanyahu about how “to push back against terrorism, to push back against senseless violence, and to find a way forward to restore calm and begin to provide opportunities”.
Kerry, arriving back in the United States on Wednesday, said Israeli and Palestinian leaders had reached a pivotal point and it was now up to them to make important decisions that will lead to lasting peace.
Netanyahu told Kerry that the core problem driving the terror attacks is “religious incitement” by the Palestinian Authority spread via social media, especially surrounding the Temple Mount, according to the official.
The premier also conditioned Palestinian construction in Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank on global recognition of Israel’s right to build in settlement blocs.
Earlier in the day, two teenage girls attacked an elderly man in Jerusalem and were shot by security forces, police said, the first stabbing in the city for almost two weeks.
There were no signs that Kerry made headway in easing tensions during his meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The official said Israel would not agree to any freeze in settlement construction.
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The United Nations has a longstanding reputation of disproportionate criticism of Israel.
