US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the opening session of the Climate and Clean Energy Investment Forum at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
AFP/Washington
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday he will engage Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the "basics" of administering Jerusalem's holy sites to try to calm tempers in the city.
Kerry is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah separately in coming days for talks on the latest round of violence.
On the agenda will be the administration of the Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, holy sites that have been a flashpoint in the recurrent clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters.
"We could meet if we chose to but I think that meeting together in the same country, this is not the moment, obviously," Kerry said, at a green investment forum in Washington.
"But I will be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu either in Germany or in the region. I will be meeting with President Abbas. I'll be meeting with King Abdullah and others," he said.
The State Department has not finalised Kerry's travel plans for the week, but reports have suggested he could meet Netanyahu in Berlin then continue to Amman for talks with Abbas and King Abdullah.
"We will go back to some very basics here with respect to what the expectations are with the administration of the Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount and hopefully open up enough political space to begin to move on some other areas," he said.
"I think we have to have very careful expectations. I think we have to be very, very aware of the sensitivities that have built up now everywhere and so we have to move carefully."
Kerry did not go into detail about how he would like to see the holy sites, which are revered by both Muslims and Jews, administered.
Palestinian car attack injures 2 in West Bank, driver killed
An Israeli soldier and a civilian were injured Tuesday after a Palestinian attempted to ram his car into a group of pedestrians in the West Bank, then exited with knife and was shot dead, officials said.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the driver had attempted to ram the group at a bus stop and that a soldier and a civilian were "evacuated for medical treatment".
The alleged attacker was killed by security forces, it said. No further details were immediately available.
Police had initially said two soldiers were lightly wounded in the attack.
It came amid nearly three weeks of unrest that has raised fears of a full-scale Palestinian uprising and as UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
