No end to Israeli-Palestinian violence despite Kerry proposal

An Israeli settler shot and critically wounded a young Palestinian man after he allegedly attempted to attack him between the West Bank village of Sair and the illegal Gush Etzion settlement bloc on Sunday morning, Palestinian security sources said.

Israel has pledged to maintain the rules of worship at the site, and Israeli and Jordanian authorities will meet about bolstering security, Kerry said.

Clashes at the site between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in September spiralled into a wave of violence that has also seen knife and gun attacks against Israelis.

In his public comments Saturday, Kerry gave no indication that the Obama administration has any plans to re-launch peace efforts during its final year in office, though the so-called Quartet, a U.S.-led group of global Mideast mediators, is to send a delegation to the region in the near future. One Israeli Jew and one Eritrean have also been killed after being mistaken for attackers. 13, when Israel began imposing restrictions on Muslim worshipers at East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“I hope it will help calm things, at least regarding the Temple Mount”, Mr. Netanyahu said at the start of his government’s weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday and ahead of another day of attacks.

He said Israeli officials have been pressuring Palestinians in attempts to reduce their numbers in the city.

Violence continued in the West Bank Monday.

Palestinians have killed 10 Israelis in more than 30 stabbing, shooting and stoning attacks this month, according to Israeli police.

While Israel has repeatedly said there are no plans to change this status quo, the Palestinian fears have been stoked by growing numbers of Jewish visitors, backed by a few senior Israeli officials, who seek prayer rights and an expanded presence on the mount.

The situation is especially dire in those areas outside the barrier, which suffer from overcrowding and lack of municipal services as Palestinians have fled a housing crunch in Arab neighborhoods inside the barrier.

The latest wave of violence erupted over the status of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims that has always been a crucible for tensions fuelling the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials have rejected a Jordanian-Israeli agreement – brokered by the USA – to calm the violence by putting the sensitive Al Aqsa Mosque site under constant video monitoring.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the step, if adopted, would deprive Palestinians in Jerusalem of the most basic rights and services and provoke confrontations.

The assailant had photos of Hamas activists and weapons on his mobile phone, Israeli police said.

After days of meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Saturday that Israel and Jordan, the custodian of the holy site, agreed to a series of steps, Including the video surveillance, to halt the violence.