Abbas tells Kerry Israel needs to cease settler provocations

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday over phone that Israel needs to stop its settlers from provoking the Palestinians "under the protection" of the Israeli army.

In their telephone conversation, Abbas told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that situation is going to be out of control if the Israelis continue to allow their settlers to provoke the Palestinians, according to the official Palestinian news agency of Wafa.

Kerry and Abbas also discussed the latest development in the Palestinian territory, said the report, adding that Kerry urged more efforts to maintain calmness and stop further escalation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Kerry on Friday, according to Netanyahu's Facebook page. While talking to Kerry, Netanyahu said he expected the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to stop "the falsified and brutal incitement that sparked the current wage of terror," the Facebook statement read.

Kerry, according to the same source, stressed that the United States understands that Israel's policy aims to maintain the status quo at the holy sites.

Tension is still escalating in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem where 20 Palestinians and four Israelis were killed in the past ten days, according to official medical reports. More than 1,000 Palestinians were injured in the violent clashes that had broken out in the Palestinian territories since the start of this month.

The Palestinian Health Minister Jawad Awwad condemned on Saturday the Israeli police's "raid" of two hospitals in Jerusalem.

Awwad said in a press statement that the hospital raids are a dangerous indication of Israel's dismal of human (values) and international agreements and human rights conventions," he added.

Awwad stressed that the international humanitarian law stressed the need to respect medical neutrality, allow medical teams to operate safely, and preventing attacks on paramedics, including medical venues.

The health minister urged the world as well as UN organizations to intervene to prevent attacks against Palestinians.

Al-Makasid medical director Bassam Abu Libda said that the Israeli police "raided the emergency and X-ray departments, looking for wounded people," adding that this is disrupting medical teams work.

Israeli sources didn't comment on the claim.

The current round of violence has flared up mid September after Palestinians protested allowing Jewish groups to al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem. Palestinians say Israel wants to change the status quo at the site they consider holy.

The escalation expanded to other areas after an Israeli couple were killed in a shooting ambush near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and two others were stabbed in east Jerusalem early October. Endit