Kerry Arrives in Israel for Talks With Netanyahu, Abbas

“There can be no peace when we have an onslaught of terror, not here, not anywhere else”, Netanyahu said. The present spate of violence erupted in mid-Sept. over tensions surrounding a sensitive Jerusalem holy website & quickly unfold across Israel & in to the West Bank & Gaza Strip.

Arriving with scant hopes for a major breakthrough, Kerry said he would discuss with Netanyahu and later Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah ways of calming tensions. The parties declare they remain committed to the two-state solution but neither side appeared to expect a big push to resume talks at this point.

During a visit on Monday to a West Bank settlement that has been the scene of numerous attacks, he also said work permits would be withdrawn for families of alleged attackers and pledged there would be “no limits” on the powers of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Abbas and other Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of using excessive force to quell attacks, saying that in many cases assailants could have been stopped and detained without being shot and killed. “Israel is fighting these forces every hour”. The secretary of state mentioned Schwartz twice by name. The Palestinians say it is the result of almost half a century of Israeli occupation and frustration over repeated failures in peace efforts and a lack of hope for gaining independence.

Palestinian reports, however, said that Manasrah and al-Aish were only observing the demolition when they were shot by the IDF. “This is the least we can do for Martyr Halabi”, who stabbed two Jews to death in the Old City of Jerusalem, the local Palestinian mayor said during the posthumous ceremony.

“If they were gonna defame us they have to put something up that defends us”.

The Palestinians and the global community, including the US, reject all settlement activity as illegal or illegitimate.

It was not clear if this suggests willingness to freeze construction elsewhere, or to signal which West Bank areas Israel would agree to part with.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas brought up those matters with Kerry.

In the West Bank, Kerry said the situation for Palestinians is “very dire” and assured them the US wants to “help contribute to calm and to restore people’s confidence in the ability of a two-state solution to still be viable”. Even centrist doves in opposition to Netanyahu, such as Isaac Herzog’s Labor party, are largely in support of holding onto the main settlement blocks.

Reportedly, the USA was pushing for more meaningful gestures, such as increasing the Palestinians’ responsibilities in the so-called Area C that constitutes around 60 percent of the West Bank and is under exclusive Israeli control, both security and civilian.