Blinken spoke with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to calm tensions after a month of violence

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke today on the phone with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and the President of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP) Mahmud Abbas, in an attempt to calm tensions in the area after nearly a month of relentless violence.

“Minister Lapid told the Secretary of State that Israel is not willing to tolerate incitement to violence and emphasized the need for international support to restore calm to Jerusalem,” a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry reported.

In addition, he said that both leaders “discussed the importance of Passover, Passover and Ramadan,” three religious holidays that coincide this year and whose simultaneous celebrations in the Old City of Jerusalem have further increased tension in the region.

On the Palestinian side, the official news agency, Wafa, noted that Abbas conveyed to Blinken “the importance of putting an end to unilateral actions and committing to agreements already signed”, especially with regard to the preservation of the “status quo” in the Esplanade of Mosques, guarded by Jordan, sacred both for Jews and Muslims and where only the latter are allowed to pray.

Abbas also insisted to the Secretary of State on the need for “the rapid reopening of a US consulate in Jerusalem” (closed by the Donald Trump Administration in 2019) and emphasized “the importance of creating a political horizon leading to the end of the Israeli occupation” of the Palestinian territories.

According to Wafa, Blinken said he had conveyed to Israel the need to respect the “status quo” on the Esplanade.

These talks come shortly after the first exchange of fire between Israel and Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip in seven months and after several weeks of tension, which reached their boiling point in recent days with heavy incidents on the Esplanade of Mosques in Jerusalem.

Violence in the region began almost a month ago, with a series of attacks on Israeli territory that were followed by multiple raids by security forces in the West Bank, many of them sparking heavy clashes.

Since March 22, when the first attack took place in the Israeli city of Beersheva, 40 people have already died in violent episodes.

Israel shot down a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and carried out an airstrike overnight in retaliation, days after clashes and attacks that have set off alarms over a wider confrontation.

The rocket fire comes after clashes after Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem last week, saying they needed to control riots while Palestinians gathered for Ramadan prayers. Similar events preceded Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza less than a year ago.

The army said Monday night that it was the first rocket launched into Israel from Gaza since September, and that it was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. Palestinian militant groups threatened further violence if Israel continues to take action in Al-Aqsa, but no group took responsibility for the firing of rockets.

Clashes in Al-Aqsa, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, often lead to increased conflict and hostility towards Israel. The events follow four attacks on Israeli cities since March that left fourteen people dead.

Arab Governments, including the United Arab Emirates and others that recently strengthened ties with Israel, condemned police actions in Al-Aqsa. Jordan summoned Israel's deputy chief of mission in Amman, Israel's Foreign Ministry said.

(With information from EFE and Bloomberg)

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