German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in talks in the West Bank on Saturday applauded the easing of Israeli-Palestinian tensions in East Jerusalem since an intervention by his US counterpart. “We welcome the meetings in Amman…which led to an improvement in the situation, especially around the [al-Aqsa mosque] compound,” he said, quoted by the Palestinian news agency WAFA. On Friday, Israel lifted restrictions on Muslims praying at Jerusalem’s flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah in the Jordanian capital and announced an agreement on steps to reduce tensions. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meanwhile blamed Israel for the situation, complaining to the head of German diplomacy of the “dangerous escalation by the Israeli government in Jerusalem.” Steinmeier, who held talks in the West Bank town of Ramallah with Abbas and is to meet Israeli leaders on Sunday, said a return to the negotiating table was the only way forward. “At present, there is no room or the necessary conditions for a resumption of negotiations, and the main thing for now is to ease tensions,” he said. But, he added, “there is no alternative to negotiations to reach a two-state solution… a Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel.”
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 18:04:53 +0000
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