The week began with Jordan hosting an emergency summit hoping to decrease tensions between Israelis and Palestinians ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
But only three days later, the reality on the ground is the exact opposite. Three Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists, settlers rampaging through a Palestinian village, checkpoints, closures, and agreements that no one is trying to implement.
Despite the understandings reached at the summit in Aqaba, the Palestinians are calling for anti-Israel resolutions in the United Nations Security Council.
“We will keep pushing the Security Council to act in accordance with the power given to it in the charter of the United Nations,” said the Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour.
Also contrary to the agreements, Israel is continuing its nightly search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank. And while so far the confrontations have been between the IDF and Palestinian terror groups, the next level of escalation could involve clashes between the IDF and Palestinian security forces
“It’s not a secret that President Mahmoud Abbas instructed the Palestinian security forces not to hesitate and confront the occupation army and the herds of settlers if they continue with the incursions on our land,” warned Palestinian Authority official Azem Alhamed.
The friction is intensifying with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish festival of Passover both just a few weeks away. A lower level of tension may be urgently needed, but it's nowhere to be found.