A sense of paranoia has gripped Israel and the occupied territories in recent weeks amid renewed violence which has seen Israeli forces kill at least 52 Palestinians including unarmed protesters, bystanders and suspected attackers.
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B’tselem said it occurred on October 6.in the West Bank, near where clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops were taking place, and that the soldiers then arrested the man. The military described the clashes as a “violent riot”.
One Israeli was killed by soldiers who mistook him for an attacker, and an Eritrean migrant was beaten and shot dead by a crowd of Israelis who thought he had taken part in a shooting.
The Quartet on the Middle East (Russia-U.S.-EU-UN) has voiced its concern about the continuing violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Kerry said he discussed several issues with Netanyahu, which he would raise with Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who has previously played a key role in mediation between the two sides. “We don’t lose hope”, Abbas said.
Rights groups have condemned Israel for excessive use of force and extrajudicial killings in their response to the unrest.
Following his meeting with Netanyahu in Germany, Kerry said he was cautiously optimistic about calming the situation.
The measures, which have been interpreted as Tel Aviv’s attempts to divide the site between Muslims and Jews, together with Israeli settlers’ frequent storming of the mosque have prompted Palestinian protests.
Widespread Palestinian perceptions that Israel is trying to expand its presence at the Muslim-run site have led to clashes there that quickly spread to other parts of Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Mr Netanyahu rejected those claims and said ending incitement was the only way to ease tensions.
On Thursday Israeli police said an Israeli who went on a stabbing rampage two weeks ago, wounding four Arabs in the southern town of Dimona, would be charged with aggravated assault rather than terrorism-related charges.
Jordan is the custodian of the mosque compound.
KELEMEN: Hoarse from all of his travel and meetings, Kerry says he will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah as well as Abbas in Jordan on Saturday, and he hopes everyone will, as he puts it, seize the moment and pull back from the precipice.
Mr Netanyahu repeated earlier accusations that Mr Abbas was to blame, saying the Palestinian leader was “spreading lies” about Israel and the status of the holy site at the centre of the tensions.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said soldiers deployed in Jerusalem to reinforce police demanded late Wednesday that the man show them his ID.
In the latest incident, an Israeli was wounded in a knife attack in Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, on Thursday before police shot and “neutralised” the two assailants.
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Palestinians say that ultra-Orthodox and national-religious Jews are exploiting the rules to enter the area, called the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews, in growing numbers and surreptitiously pray there, in breach of the status quo.
