Abbas claims that Netanyahu seeks to change status quo arrangements on the holy site, where non-Muslims are not allowed to formally pray. Pressed on the matter, State Department officials echoed Abbas’ concerns, suggesting they believe Israel’s policy leaves open the possibility of change at the site.

A “massive increase in settlements” built by Israel in recent years has led to the “frustration” and “violence” now stoking its decades-old conflict with the Palestinians, US Secretary of State John Kerry said at Harvard University on Tuesday night.

When tensions between Israelis and Palestinians flared up in Jerusalem last November, Secretary of State John Kerry invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to an emergency summit in Jordan to clear the air and restore calm.

“Smart (non-violent) resistance is not a slogan, it’s a conscious path to freedom and independence. To cover up its crimes, Israel needs to feed all the western stereotypes of Palestinians as violent and subhuman rather than hungry for freedom and equal rights,” writes Sam Bahour.

Israelis need to realize that neither Abbas nor the PA, nor Hamas are responsible for Israelis’ security. Israeli leaders are — and they are failing miserably.

Israel’s security cabinet decided at a meeting late Tuesday that the bodies of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces after carrying out attacks on Israeli citizens would no longer be returned to their families.

Israel started setting up roadblocks in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and deploying soldiers in cities across the country on Wednesday to try to combat the worst surge of violence in months.

Senior security service official says in briefing that the Palestinian president is instructing his security forces to prevent attacks.

It is a tough time to be Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a man without a country — or a popular mandate or much of a plan.

Gaza remains defiant in the face of violent Israeli crackdown on protesters.