Israeli and Palestinian officials today agreed to set up a mechanism to curb violence and incitement in talks that stressed the need to prevent any destruction of holy sites in Jerusalem when Ramadan begins later this week, it was reported. BTA.

In a joint statement after talks in Egypt attended by US, Egyptian and Jordanian officials, the countries also reaffirmed commitments made at a meeting in Aqaba last month, including an Israeli pledge to halt discussions on new settlement projects for a period of four months.

The Feb. 26 meeting in Aqaba, the first of its kind in years, failed to stop the violence on the ground despite Israeli and Palestinian pledges of de-escalation that were repeated today in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Israeli prime minister called on the chief of the general staff to take measures against the wave of protests among the military

In the past year, Israeli forces have made thousands of arrests and killed more than 200 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, and more than 40 Israelis and three Ukrainians have died in Palestinian attacks.

The Israeli-occupied West Bank has seen a sharp rise in opposition in recent months, with almost daily Israeli military operations and escalating violence by Jewish settlers amid a wave of attacks by Palestinians.

During today's talks, Israeli and Palestinian officials "agreed to establish a mechanism to curb and counter violence, incitement and inciting statements and actions", which will report on developments at a new meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh in April.

The announcement did not provide further details about the mechanism, Reuters found

The parties to the talks also "underscored the need for both Israelis and Palestinians to actively prevent any actions that would violate the integrity" of Jerusalem's holy sites during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the joint statement said.

In previous years, there have been occasional clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians during Ramadan, particularly around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

This year, Ramadan coincides with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter.

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