Israeli troops fire teargas towards Palestinians gathering near the scene of the stabbing incident at the Al Fawwar refugee camp in the West Bank yesterday.
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Kerry had focused his efforts on persuading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer concessions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that could induce the Palestinian Authority’s to call for calm.
Netanyahu seemed to confirm that assessment Tuesday, saying Israel would fight “every hour” against those committing and inciting violence.
“It’s not only our battle; it’s everyone’s battle”, he said.
Noting that he was arriving at a time that was “very troubled”, Kerry condemned the ongoing attacks.
He said that the global Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29 is an “important occasion for us to reaffirm our support for the Palestinian people’s struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side and at peace with Israel”. The secretary of state mentioned Schwartz twice by name.
However, a Reuters story on the same topic says Kerry’s reference to “acts of terrorism” was directed explicitly at the Palestinians.
In blessing Israel’s condemnation of “terrorism”, Kerry pivots from blatantly erasing Israel’s violence towards Palestinians to outright approving of it. They were shot by a Palestinian gunman, who is still being sought.
“The US government has never defended or supported Israeli settlements and activity associated with them, and by extension, does not pursue policies that would legitimize them”, Toner said.
Speaking with the press before sitting down with Netanyahu, Kerry expressed his “complete condemnation for any act of terror that takes innocent lives, disrupts the day-to-day life of a nation”.
Israeli media have reported that Kerry asked Netanyahu to institute reforms that would help quell the recent intensification of violence in the West bank, among them granting Palestinians in the area building permits. He said he was dispatched to Israel and the West Bank by President Barack Obama to try to restore calm as well as public confidence in the viability of a two- state solution. “Advancing civilian projects the Palestinians are interested in will be possible only if the level of violence declines and if Israel’s security needs are met”. The arrangement was part of the Oslo accords reaching during the 1990s. The official said Israel would not agree to any freeze in settlement construction.
Also on Tuesday evening, the soldiers kidnapped Odai Ibrahim Hamada Sheikh, 23 years of age, after stopping him on the Za’tara military roadblock, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
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The plan was approved by the Israeli government Sunday allowing the construction of five Jewish statements in the Negev region.
