US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that steps were agreed at talks in Amman to lower tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians.
After talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Kerry said “firm commitments” had been made to maintain the status quo at holy sites in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
He said Israel and Jordan, which has custodial rights at the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Holy City, had also agreed to take steps to “de-escalate the situation” in Jerusalem and to “restore confidence”.
“We are not going to lay out each practical step,” Kerry stated. “It is more important they be done in a quiet and effective way,” Kerry said a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
“It is clear to me that they are serious about working on the effort to create de-escalation and to take steps to instill confidence that the status quo will be upheld,” he said.
Kerry was to hold three-way talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah II Thursday night to discuss growing unrest in Jerusalem, officials said.
“They will focus on ways to restore calm and de-escalate tensions in Jerusalem,” Kerry’s deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said. The talks followed a meeting earlier Thursday between top US diplomat Kerry and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
It came hours after fresh clashes broke out in Jerusalem where Israeli police fired tear gas, percussion bombs and rubber bullets to disperse Arab rioters in the Issawiya neighborhood in northeastern Jerusalem.
According to reports in the Lebanese Al Meyadeen, Abbas was to be joining the meeting between Netanyahu, Kerry and Abdullah.