U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to solid steps to calm the tensions over Jerusalem’s holiest site.
Violence has been building over the last few weeks over the Temple Mount. Palestinians have been attacking Israeli police and fears had been building concerning a major uprising by Palestinians.
“Today, we are working to smother the sparks of immediate tension so that they don’t become a fire that is absolutely out of control,” Kerry added, flanked by Jordanian Foreign Minister Naser Judeh. The area, which contains the Dome of the Rock, is under Jordanian control due to treaty.
Members of the Israeli government have been raising discussions that Jews should be again able to pray on the Temple Mount. Judah told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in the talks to maintain the status quo as a way to help ease tensions.
The agreement announced by Kerry also lifted all age restrictions on Muslims praying at the Dome.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is making a strong public stand for imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini.
Kerry cited the hardship of Abedini’s family and the fact it’s almost two full years since Abedini has been wrongly imprisoned for his faith.
Kerry also spoke out about other Americans imprisoned in Iran.
“The United States respectfully calls on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini and Jason Rezaian to their family and work cooperative with us to find Robert Levinson and bring him home,” Kerry said.
Lawyers for Abedini say that he has been under death threat from ISIS terrorists within Iranian prisons. The Islamist group sees Abedini as an emblem of western Christianity and his killing would be a seen as a symbol to Islamic terrorists.
A 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza conflict ended in less than two hours when Hamas launched an unprovoked attack on Israeli soldiers.
A Hamas terrorist approached a group of Israeli soldiers and set off a homicide vest killing two soldiers. An Israeli officer was then kidnapped by another team of terrorists waiting for the homicide bomber to set off his vest.
A Hamas official confirmed the action but tried to claim that it happened before the cease-fire despite ample evidence to the opposite.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Secretary of State John Kerry that because Hamas broke the cease-fire, they would “bear the consequences of their actions.”
Senior Republicans in Washington are reportedly putting together a measure for the House that would give $225 million in emergency funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry proposed a “cease fire” that did nothing to address the fact Hamas uses tunnels to conduct terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.
The Israeli ministers voted unanimously to reject the proposal because Kerry did nothing to address Hamas’ as a terrorist organization killing civilians.
The proposal was reportedly a “watered down” version of the deal that was proposed by Egypt with significant benefits and concessions given to the terrorist group. One observer close to the vote said Kerry’s proposal was “pro-Hamas and essentially a win for the terrorists.”
The Israeli Defense Forces said the death toll among Israeli troops as of noon Friday had reached 35 soldiers.
The head of IDF says that Hamas in the Gaza Strip are “weakening and losing morale.”
“The spirit of Hamas terrorists is weakening,” Southern Region Commander Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman says. “I see terrorists in distress, abandoned by their commanders who deserted them at the front and stayed behind…and facing them, our reserve and standing army units led by commanders leading the force. Every day of combat there is a day of accomplishments for us, both on the issue of tunnels and on the issue of enemy units.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Israel trying to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop the offensive in Gaza aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat to Israeli citizens.
Kerry reportedly made little progress with Netanyahu, who was enraged at the United States placing a ban on airlines flying into Ben Guiron International Airport for two days. The FAA lifted the ban just before midnight Thursday.
Two senior State Department officials told the Washington Post that Kerry is trying to find a way to get a cease-fire done so he can work on a long term peace agreement.
Another sign that Israel is paying little attention to Kerry’s attempts to get them to stop defending themselves from Hamas was a statement from Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to troops about expanding the ground campaign.
“We are preparing the next stages of the fighting after dealing with the tunnels, and you need to be ready for any mission,” Yaalon told the soldiers. “You need to be ready for more important steps in Gaza, and the units that are now on standby need to prepare to go in.”
Hamas reiterated they will continue to fire rockets at Israeli citizens until they obtain their demands.
Egypt is calling for Hamas and Israel to sit down at the table and restart the peace talks that have been stalled for years as a way to end the current conflict.
Egyptian Foreign Minster Sameh Shukri met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today, working to find a framework to get the two sides sitting down to negotiate and end to the hostilities.
Shukri told reporters his goal is “to not only resolve this issue but also to set in motion once again the peace process that Secretary Kerry has been so actively involved in so as to end this ongoing conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”
Kerry flew to Cairo Monday to see how he could assist with the negotiations. President Obama said that the administration is building in concern for civilians.
“We have serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives,” Obama said in Washington. “And that is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a cease-fire that ends the fighting and can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in Gaza and in Israel.”
Kerry said that $47 million will be given by the United States for humanitarian aid to Gaza at the end of the hostilities.
The kidnapping of three teenagers in Israel, including one that has U.S. citizenship, is becoming more evident the action of the terrorist group Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is speaking out about the incident, saying that “many indications point to Hamas’ involvement” in the kidnapping.
“The United States strongly condemns the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers and calls for their immediate release,” Kerry said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. We continue to offer our full support for Israel in its search for the missing teens, and we have encouraged full cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services. We understand that cooperation is ongoing.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the government has confirmed Hamas’ involvement and they are placing responsibility for the kidnapping on the new Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas because they are backed by Hamas.
Hamas, while not making a claim to responsibility, praised the kidnappings and said as a group they “pay tribute to the heroes who are behind the kidnapping.”
A new crisis between Israel and its closest ally is developing because of the Obama Administration’s glowing support for a Hamas-supported government in Palestine.
Several key Israeli officials expressed their anger publicly concerning the U.S. State Department saying they are willing to work with the new Palestinian unity government that was built with the help of Hamas. Even U.S. officials identify Hamas as a terrorist group yet the State Department ignored that in their endorsement of the new government.
“I have to say I do not understand this American announcement,” said Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz. “You cannot present it as a Hamas government internally, then present it publically as a government of technocrats. If these (ministers) are people who identify with Hamas, Hamas identifies with them and appointed them, then they are representatives of Hamas. This is a Hamas government, and Hamas is a terror organization.”
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki tried to avoid reporter’s questions about Hamas’ intimate involvement with the new Palestinian coalition.
“At this point, it appears that president Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas,” she said. “With what we know now, we will work with this government.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly was “betrayed and deceived” by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who told him that the U.S. would not recognize the new government immediately but then did so within five hours.
U.S Secretary of State John Kerry made a pointed attack at Israel, essentially blaming them for problems with the peace process.
While Kerry paid lip service to the actions of both sides by saying that he saw “unhelpful” actions on the parts of both the Israelis and Palestinians. However, the pointed parts of his comments were all pointed at Israel.
Kerry said that the problem that is imperiling the peace process is Israel’s announcement of 700 new housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The announcement came three days after Israel did not release Palestinian prisoners as demanded by the United States as part of the negotiations.
However, the actions were in response to the Palestinians attempting to get status with at least 15 United Nations organizations, a back door way to be established as a nation. Kerry did not criticize the Palestinians for inciting the crisis despite their actions coming first.
“Secretary Kerry,” an official in Mr. Netanyahu’s office told the New York Times, “knows that it was the Palestinians who said ‘no’ to continued direct talks with Israel in November; who said ‘no’ to his proposed framework for final status talks; who said ‘no’ to even discussing recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people; who said ‘no’ to a meeting with Kerry himself; and who said ‘no’ to an extension of the talks.”
The Arab League has stated conclusively they will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The members also said that Israel was the reason for a lack of progress in the peace process.
“We hold Israel entirely responsible for the lack of progress in the peace process and continuing tension in the Middle East,” the group said in a statement. “We express our absolute and decisive rejection to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.”
The declaration by the Arab League is seen as a serious blow to the peace process as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one of Israel’s unbending demands is recognition of the country by Arab nations.
Netanyahu believes that without recognition of Israel, there will be no way that anyone can have peace with the Jewish people.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in the region today to try and nudge the stalled peace process.
