Kerry lays out steps to ease Israeli-Palestinian strife
(Agencies) Updated: 2015-10-25 10:45
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US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in Diriyah Farm, Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Nayef (2nd R), October 24, 2015. [Photo/Agencies] |
"Provocations"
A US official told reporters it had not yet been decided who exactly would conduct video monitoring of the site, saying this would be discussed by Israeli and Jordanian technical officials when they meet.
An Israeli official who declined to be named, said: "Israel has an interest in placing cameras across the Temple Mount in order to refute the claims that it is changing the status quo.
"We are interested in showing that the provocations are not coming from the Israeli side," he added.
Standing beside Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman, Kerry said the cameras "could really be a game-changer in discouraging anybody from disturbing the sanctity" of the site.
In addition to the shooting of the Palestinian at the West Bank crossing, a 25-year-old Palestinian protester died of wounds he suffered last week when he was shot by Israeli troops during a border clash near the Gazan town of Khan Younis, a Gaza health official said.
On Friday, Israeli authorities lifted restrictions that had banned men aged under 40 from praying at al-Aqsa, a move seen as a bid to ease Muslim anger.
Palestinians are also frustrated by the failure of numerous rounds of peace talks to secure them an independent state. The last round of negotiations collapsed in 2014.
From Amman, Kerry flew to Riyadh, where he met King Salman of Saudi Arabia and other senior officials.
Those talks were expected to focus on efforts to end Syria's four-year civil war and on the crisis in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has led an Arab military intervention since March to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government and fend off what it sees as creeping Iranian influence.
