Abbas tells Jordan foreign minister PA is planning ‘steps to fight Israeli escalation’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tells Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi in Ramallah that the Palestinian leadership is planning “steps to fight Israeli escalation.”

“The continuing current situation cannot be accepted and cannot be borne,” Abbas says during a snap visit by al-Safadi.

Abbas slams “American silence” and “international impotence” in preventing “Israeli provocations and practices.”

Al-Safadi was accompanied by Jordanian intelligence director Ahmad Husni. The PA head was flanked by several of his top advisers, including spy chief Majed Faraj and Hussein al-Sheikh, who is responsible for coordination with Israel.

“Israel’s failure to respect international law will plunge the region into a cycle of violence and escalation,” al-Safadi says.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have seethed over the past few months. A bloody terror wave has left 19 dead in Israeli cities since late March. Israeli police clashed repeatedly with Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in April. Palestinian terror groups threatened violence over the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March, which saw some Israeli nationalists chant racist slogans and clash with Palestinians.

Over 30 Palestinians have died in the same period, most during Israeli military raids in the West Bank in pursuit of terror suspects. Many were killed during clashes with Israeli forces or while committing attacks, but at least a few were apparently unarmed civilians. They included popular Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead under disputed circumstances amid a clash between IDF soldiers and Palestinian gunmen during an Israeli military raid in Jenin.