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By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) -Israeli and Palestinian officers pledged to de-escalate surging violence after assembly on Sunday, issuing a joint assertion wherein Israel stated it could halt discussions about new settlement items within the occupied West Financial institution for 4 months.

Attended by senior U.S., Jordanian and Egyptian officers along with the Israeli and Palestinian delegations, the assembly in Aqaba, Jordan was the primary of its variety in years.

The Israeli and Palestinian sides stated of their assertion that they’d work intently to forestall “additional violence” and “reaffirmed the need of committing to de-escalation on the bottom”. They affirmed their dedication to earlier agreements.

Jordan, together with its allies Egypt and the US, stated the understandings have been “main progress in the direction of re-establishing and deepening relations between the 2 sides”.

However underlining the challenges, Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, referred to as the assembly “nugatory”, and condemned the West Financial institution-based Palestinian Authority for participating.

The assembly was held as anxiousness mounts of an escalation in violence within the run-up to the holy Muslim month of Ramadan that begins in late March.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority “confirmed their joint readiness and dedication to right away work to finish unilateral measures for a interval of 3-6 months”, the assertion stated.

“This consists of an Israeli dedication to cease dialogue of any new settlement items for 4 months and to cease authorisation of any outposts for six months.”

That might trigger hassle in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition authorities, one of the vital proper wing in Israeli historical past.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who additionally has obligations over Jewish settlements within the West Financial institution, rapidly stated he wouldn’t abide by any such settlement.

“I don’t know what they spoke about or not in Jordan,” Smotrich wrote on Twitter. “However one factor I do know: there is not going to be a freeze on the constructing and improvement in settlements, not even for sooner or later (it’s below my authority).”

The Palestinians purpose to determine an unbiased state within the West Financial institution and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital – territories Israel captured in a 1967 struggle.

However peace talks have been stalled since 2014 and Palestinians say Jewish settlement enlargement has undermined the possibilities of a viable state being established.

Israel on Feb. 12 granted retroactive authorisation to 9 Jewish settler outposts within the West Financial institution and introduced mass-construction of recent houses inside established settlements.

A senior Israeli official stated there could be no change to the earlier determination relating to authorization of these outposts and 9,500 housing items. Netanyahu appeared to downplay any dedication, saying Israel would proceed settlement constructing alongside earlier plans, and saying there “is not going to be any freeze”.

The U.N. Safety Council issued a proper assertion on Feb. 20 denouncing Israel’s plan to develop settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, the primary motion the US has allowed the physique to take towards its ally Israel in six years.

‘HISTORIC GATHERING’

U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Jordan’s King Abdullah for “convening this historic gathering”, U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan stated in an announcement.

“We acknowledge that this assembly was a place to begin and that there’s a lot work to do over the approaching weeks and months to construct a steady and affluent future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Implementation shall be vital,” he stated.

The individuals will meet once more in March in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. They agreed to “preserve optimistic momentum and develop this settlement in the direction of wider political course of resulting in a simply and lasting peace”, their assertion stated.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri stated the assembly would “not change something”. “It is not going to succeed to forestall our folks from defending themselves and confronting the crimes performed by the federal government of the occupation”, he instructed Reuters.

Within the newest violence, a Palestinian gunman killed two Jewish settlers of their automotive within the West Financial institution on Sunday, Israeli officers stated. There was no speedy declare of duty.

Hamas stated it was “a pure response to crimes performed by the occupation, the final of which was the bloodbath in Nablus”, the place 11 Palestinians have been killed – six gunmen and 5 civilians – in an Israeli raid on Feb. 23.

In earlier years, clashes have erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians round Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque on the peak of the Ramadan fasting month that coincided with Judaism’s Passover and Christian Easter.

A Jordanian official warned of “a really tough dynamic on the bottom with the escalation occurring forward of Ramadan and Passover”.

Jerusalem is holy to all three faiths. Jordan’s Hashemite royal household is the custodian of Muslim and Christian holy websites in East Jerusalem.

A number of Palestinian factions from armed teams inside mainstream Fatah to Islamist Hamas and Islamic Jihad urged the PA to withdraw from the assembly, calling it a U.S.-led plot towards Palestinian aspirations.