Kerry renews push to ease Israeli-Palestinian tensions
AMMAN — US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday renewed his push to ease violence and tension between Israel and the Palestinians in talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Meeting in Amman, Kerry, Abbas and the king were exploring ideas, first raised during a Thursday meeting in Berlin between Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on how to defuse the situation. Over the past five weeks, 49 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.
Both Kerry and Abbas expressed hope that a solution could be found in brief comments to reporters as they began their meeting. “All the time we had the hope,” Abbas said. “We did not lose the hope.”
Kerry added: “I am hopeful.” After seeing Abbas, Kerry met the Jordanian monarch. Neither spoke to reporters as they began their talks.
Following his meeting with Netanyahu in Germany, Kerry said he was cautiously optimistic about calming the situation. Kerry has said he would like to see clarity in the rules governing access to the Jerusalem holy site at the center of the tensions.
On Friday, Israel lifted restrictions on Muslim worshippers in an apparent bid to ease tensions as Kerry continued his diplomatic push. Israel had barred younger Muslim men — seen by police as the main potential trouble-makers — from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Fridays, the main day of prayer in the Muslim religious week.
The bans, which were put into place intermittently, had at times targeted men up to the age of 50 and fueled Palestinian fears that Israel is trying to change long-standing understandings under which Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray, at the shrine.
Those fears have also been fueled by a rise in visits to the site by Jewish activists demanding prayer rights, including senior members of Netanyahu’s coalition government.
Kerry, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon — members of the Middle East peacemaking Quartet — appealed for "maximum restraint" after talks on Friday in Vienna.
They also issued a call for Israel to work with Jordan, historic steward of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. — Agencies
