Kerry: Steps Agreed to Lower Israeli-Palestinian Tensions

U.S. 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 Benjamin 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".

Earlier on Thursday, Kerry mounted a diplomatic push to calm surging tensions in Jerusalem through talks in Amman with Netanyahu and Jordan's king.

The meeting at King Abdullah II's palace came hours after talks between the U.S. secretary of state and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

"They will focus on ways to restore calm and de-escalate tensions in Jerusalem," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said ahead of the talks in the Jordanian capital.

The flurry of diplomatic activity followed new clashes in east Jerusalem where Israeli police fired tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian demonstrators.

Months-long unrest in annexed east Jerusalem has in recent days spread to the occupied West Bank and Arab communities across Israel, raising fears of a new Palestinian uprising.

On Wednesday Israel approved plans for another 200 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem -- a move sharply criticized by Washington.

Kerry and a somber-looking Abbas embraced and had a brief whispered exchange as they met at the Palestinian leader's hillside villa in Amman where the U.S. and Palestinian flags hung in front of a large night-time photo of Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.

Much of the unrest in Jerusalem has been fueled by Israeli moves to step up settlement activity in the city's eastern sector and by religious tensions at the Al-Aqsa compound, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Earlier, a tense confrontation erupted in the city's Issawiya neighborhood as about 100 residents, including schoolchildren, tried to block a main road after police closed off several neighborhood entrances with concrete blocks.

A local activist denounced the blocks as "collective punishment" against Palestinians in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians have also been infuriated by a far-right Jewish campaign for prayer rights at Al-Aqsa, although Israel insists it has no plans to change the decades-old status quo.

Israel's Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the authorities were on alert for more unrest, after several attacks in recent weeks by Palestinians wielding knives or ploughing cars into pedestrians.

"I believe there will still be terror attacks and other incidents in the near future," he said.

Abbas's spokesman said ahead of the meeting that the Palestinian leader was expected to tell Kerry of his growing concerns over Israel's actions, particularly in Jerusalem.

"The Palestinian position will be made crystal clear: the Israeli violations are a red line and cannot be tolerated -- especially with the tension and Israeli escalation in Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

Kerry also met King Abdullah who called for Israel "to put an end to its unilateral action and repeated attacks against holy sites in Jerusalem, especially those targeting the Al-Aqsa mosque compound," his palace said.

The monarch said there was "no alternative to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state", with east Jerusalem as its capital, in order to achieve peace.

Jordan, which has custodial rights at Al-Aqsa, last week recalled its ambassador to Israel after police clashed with Palestinians inside the mosque compound.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council sent on Wednesday, Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour demanded international intervention over Al-Aqsa, warning tensions could "spiral out of control".

In a move likely to further heighten tensions around Al-Aqsa, Aharonovitch said late Wednesday he would reinstall metal detectors at the entrances along with facial-recognition technology.

"We'll increase the supervision of people entering the compound, both Jews and Muslims," he said.

But Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, head of the Islamic Waqf which runs the compound, rejected the idea.

"This is unacceptable to all Muslims. It cannot be installed," he told AFP.

The U.S. State Department sharply condemned Israel's announcement of 200 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of Ramot.

"We are deeply concerned by this decision, particularly given the tense situation in Jerusalem," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon demanded both sides do everything possible "to avoid further exacerbating an already tense environment".

On Wednesday, suspected Jewish extremists staged a pre-dawn arson attack on a West Bank mosque two days after Palestinian knife attacks killed a settler in the southern West Bank and an Israeli soldier in Tel Aviv.