US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken begins a tour - today, Sunday - that includes Egypt, Israel and the West Bank, while CIA Director William Burns continues his talks to stop the escalation between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant to the US Secretary of State, said that the Director of Central Intelligence will present to Israel some of what he described as facts, noting that Burns' talks with Israeli officials will be followed by other talks in Ramallah with Palestinian political and security leaders.
The American diplomat stated that the issue of stopping the escalation of violence will be at the top of Blinken's discussions during his visit, which includes Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Cairo.
He pointed out that the visit aimed - originally - to discuss the development of US relations with Israel and the vision of the Netanyahu government regarding dealing with the Palestinians and the region.
spiral of violence
According to the German news agency, the "vortex of violence" in the West Bank and Jerusalem overshadowed any plans by the US Secretary of State to focus on democracy, "with preparations for an unlimited response to Palestinian attacks that the new extremist Israeli government has undertaken."
The agency said that the delegation led by Blinken had hoped to use two days of meetings in Jerusalem to pressure Netanyahu and other members of his government on a range of issues, including normalization, rights and freedoms for Palestinians as well as Israelis, and the importance of establishing a Palestinian state.
"Normalization will be on the agenda, as will the Biden administration's unlimited commitment to the two-state solution that is being negotiated," Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said - in a press briefing ahead of the tour.
But these issues - as reported by the agency - will now rank second in Blinken's urgent mission to urge calm, in the wake of the violence that took place in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past few days.
For its part, the Los Angeles Times reported that Blinken would become the highest-ranking US official to meet the new Israeli government, "full of far-right ministers" led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
position of the European Union
In a related context, the European Union expressed its support for Israel after the Jerusalem operation, but called for "Israel's use of lethal force as a last resort."
The Union called on both parties, the Israeli and the Palestinian, to return to security coordination between them, and to make every effort to calm the situation.
European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varheli said that the European Union condemned the bloody attack in East Jerusalem.
He added that there could be no explanation for what he called terrorism, stressing that the European Union stood by Israel.
Occupied Jerusalem witnessed two operations that resulted in the death of 7 Israelis and the injury of several others, following a massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in the Jenin camp, which resulted in the death of 9 Palestinians and the wounding of 20 others.