Obama Calls on Israel and Palestinians to ‘Tamp Down’ Violence

He said tensions at holy sites in Jerusalem, exacerbated by “reckless statements” from Palestinian and Israeli extremist elements, were the main instigator of the violence. But he also blamed “the apparent heavy-handed approach by Israeli security services” and “the impact of social media and irresponsible rhetoric” for the escalation. “Here in the U.S., if we were to report on the current activities going on in Israel the way we did back on September 11, the way it would look would be a bunch of terrorists were hurt flying into the Trade Center”.

Rabbi Avi Weiss, who organized the rally on behalf of the Coalition for Jewish Concerns-AMCHA, told The Jerusalem Post that Jews were being murdered just because they are Jews in Israel.

Jordan has custodianship of the al-Aqsa compound.

“Let me be crystal clear”. He said “any such intervention would violate the decades-long status quo”. During the same time period, thirty-one Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, with the inclusion of 14 labeled by Israel as “attackers” while the remaining 17 were felled by stone-throwers and Israeli troops.

Protests against Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip have increased in frequency, while Israeli forces have responded with force, using tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition against demonstrators. Protestors during clashes with Israeli troops near the border with Israel; 3.

Israel has also moved to confiscate their assets and expedite the demolition of family homes belonging to Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli forces or civilians. Israeli police said that he and a cousin stabbed two Israelis there on Monday.

Mark Toner, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said in a daily press briefing that Kerry was likely to meet the Israeli prime minister, “probably” in Germany, but details of the trip were still being finalized.

Hours after the Israeli roadblocks went up on Wednesday, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a 70-year-old woman outside Jerusalem’s central bus station before a police officer shot him dead. The soldier was evacuated for emergency medical care.

Nearby, in the West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of Palestinians firebombed a site known as Joseph’s Tomb that is revered by a few Jews as the burial place of the son of the biblical patriarch Jacob. It is yet unknown how the Palestinian security forces plan to deal with the Hamas protests.

The tomb has become a popular prayer site in recent years among a few religious Jews.

Adalah and Addameer, a Palestinian group defending prisoners’ rights, sent a letter to Israel’s attorney general this week highlighting three cases where video footage documented the unjustified shooting or abuse of Palestinian suspects.

In the past month, eight Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks, a lot of them stabbings.

Seven Israelis and 32 Palestinians have been killed in the past two weeks of violence, including 10 assailants, as well as children and protesters shot in anti-Israeli demonstrations.