(MENAFN) According to unidentified West Jerusalem and Washington officials quoted in many media sites on Tuesday, the United States has requested that Israel and the State of Palestine "pause" hostilities. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the American request to the two parties last week during his two-day trip to Israel.
Blinken specifically requested that Israel halt its unlawful settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and halt the demolishment of Palestinian houses there and in East Jerusalem. The United States also wants the Palestinian Authority to discontinue its United Nation advocacy against Israel and restore security cooperation with Israel after a month-long hiatus.
According to reports, Washington is hoping the "pause" is going to persist for at least a few months in order to stop the current hostilities between Israel and Palestine from turning into a full-fledged war.
As media rumors on the impending "pause" surfaced just after a fresh Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, it is unclear at this time if the United States demand would actually be implemented. During the midnight raid in the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp close to Jericho, Israeli soldiers murdered a number of Palestinians. The guys who were killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), were "armed terrorists" who were supposedly planning a massacre. Local militants pledged to react, while the Palestinian Authority called the operation a "crime."
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