Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged on Sunday to reduce the escalating violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem, but the fatal shooting of two Israeli settlers and subsequent riots in Palestinian villages underscored how tensions are spiralling out of control.
Israelis and Palestinians issued a joint statement after a rare meeting with US, Jordanian and Egyptian officials hosted in Jordan’s coastal city of Aqaba. The summit brought high-level diplomacy to efforts to stem spiralling tensions ahead of Ramadan next month – which in the past has been a flashpoint for violence.
But Sunday marked another violent day in the West Bank. In the afternoon, the two Israelis were shot to death by a Palestinian gunman. Groups of Israeli settlers later rioted in the area, and one Palestinian man was fatally shot in the abdomen.
The past year has already been one of the deadliest periods of violence in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades. Security co-operation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has frayed as the Israeli military conducts deadly raids deep in Palestinian-administered territory, in what Israeli officials say is a response to Palestinian terrorist attacks.
By late Sunday evening, Israeli and Palestinian officials released a joint statement stressing “the importance of de-escalation on the ground and preventing further violence”.
Read the article by DovLieber and Aaron Boxerman in The Australian.