Israel, Palestinians agree to establish ‘mechanism’ to curb violence

Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed on Sunday to establish a mechanism to curb violence during a meeting aimed at preventing already surging violence from escalating further when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins later this week.

In a statement issued at the end of a meeting in Egypt that was also attended by US, Egyptian and Jordanian officials, the parties also emphasized the necessity of both Israelis and Palestinians preventing any actions that would disrupt the sanctity of Holy Sites in Jerusalem during Ramadan.

The parties reaffirmed the necessity of de-escalation, and reconfirmed commitments made at a previous meeting in Aqaba last month. These included an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for four months, and to stop authorisation of any outposts for six months.