The top US diplomat said during the past weekend he exchanged views on the situation with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and with other regional leaders as well.
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That’s how the Dutch public broadcaster NOS presented an October 9 incident in the northern city of Afula, in which Israeli officers shot and arrested Asraa Zidan Tawfik Abed, an Arab Israeli woman from Nazareth who the police said had tried to stab a soldier at the city’s main bus station.
Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem in September. Another Israeli died after being run down and stabbed elsewhere in the city.
Eight Israelis have been killed and dozens injured in attacks over recent weeks, and upwards of 28 Palestinians-about half of them attackers-have been killed in confrontations with Israeli forces.
When pushed further to explain what steps Israel might take, Toner said one step would be to uphold the status quo at Temple Mount, a holy site for both Jews and Muslims.
At a regular press briefing on Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest reiterated the US policy of seeking a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it is “the most effective way” to address the issue. Initially the headline read “Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two”. The violence, coming at a time when peace prospects appear nil, have fueled a sense of panic in Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of heavy violence. The rumors ignited clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian activists who hurled stones and firebombs at them from inside the mosque, and the violence has spread. According to Palestinian reports, 27 Palestinians- including nine alleged attackers- have also died. The use of vehicles and firearms in Jerusalem on Tuesday, however, marked a more serious level of violence and bring back memories of the deadly attacks that plagued Israeli cities during last decade’s second Palestinian uprising. The second attacker was subdued by a crowd.
Israeli police released footage showing the second attack, in which the Palestinian man rammed his auto into pedestrians, then got out and hacked at them with a machete-like weapon. Police said a 60-year-old man was killed, as was one of the attackers.
Other amateur videos of shootings have popped up in which Palestinians say suspects were needlessly gunned down.
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Kuperwasser, who once served as director general of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and headed the Research and Analysis and Production Division of Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence, told reporters that Palestinians are taught from a young age to “get rid of the Jews who came to this land, who deny the Palestinian cause”. But he said asking whether the U.S.is “satisfied” with Israel’s position is the wrong question, and similarly dodged questions about whether the Palestinian Authority has to do more. They are angry over increasing Jewish visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.
