Surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence ahead of Kerry visit

Instead, he wants to help quell the recent violence and ensure that “people aren’t living in absolute, daily terror that they might be stabbed or driven into or shot”.

The surge in violence began in September when tensions at a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims boiled over, amid rumours that Israel planned to relax long-standing rules to strengthen Jewish rights at the complex.

Since Oct. 1, 86 Palestinians have been killed, some while carry out assaults and others in clashes with Israeli forces.

With U.S.-backed talks on a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory frozen since early 2014, Netanyahu said there could be no peace while an “onslaught of terror” continued.

Senior Obama administration officials have insisted that Kerry’s latest push to stop the violence between Palestinians and Israelis is not part of a bigger plan to coax the sides into resuming talks on a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel.

Advocates of the bill say it will only allow for the imprisonment of children charged with violent crimes of a “nationalistic” nature, such as stabbings targeting Israeli settlers.

One of the two girls, who were apparently cousins, died while the other was in critical condition. The script is well-trodden, with Kerry likely to ask both sides to avoid provocative actions.

On Monday, three Palestinians and an Israeli solder were killed in a fresh spate of violence. On Sunday, a 21-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death by a Palestinian in the West Bank, and last Thursday, five people were killed in stabbing and shooting attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv.

The death came only a few hours after a stabbing in Jerusalem – the first in the city for almost two weeks – when two teenage girls attacked an elderly man, police said.

In the gas station attack, the Israeli – 18-year-old soldier Ziv Mizrahi – was stabbed in the stomach and later died of his wounds, said Eli Bin, the director of the Magen David Adom rescue service. Israeli fire has killed 89 Palestinians.

He, too, accused Kerry of siding with Israel and decried the USA state secretary’s description of “lone-wolf” attacks by desperate Palestinians as acts of “terrorism”. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton took unsuccessful stabs at a two-state solution during their final months in office.

Kerry said the USA was prepared to re-engage in a serious peace effort, and “we have ideas for how things could proceed”.

“No one in the world should live with attacks in the streets with knives, with scissors, cars”, Kerry asserted.

On a visit to the West Bank on Monday, Netanyahu didn’t suggest he was adopting a softer approach. “We are entering into villages, communities and homes and are carrying out widespread arrests”, Netanyahu said, adding that there is “no restriction on the actions of the IDF and the security forces”.

Israel says the violence stems from Palestinian incitement and incendiary videos on social media.

An 18-year-old Palestinian woman, identified by medical sources as Samah Abdullah, was shot and severely wounded in the same attack, apparently by accident.