Second Intifada

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Oct. 24 that Israel had agreed on steps to calm tensions over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, at the centre of Palestinian unrest, including 24-hour security cameras.

Israeli police said they have lifted age restrictions for the main weekly prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Oct. 23, for the first time in weeks.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Oct. 21 that he was "not optimistic" following his talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to urge them to defuse tensions, diplomats said.

Israeli troops arrested one of the top West Bank leaders of Islamist group Hamas in an overnight raid near Ramallah, the army said on Oct. 20. 

Israel was to voice its opposition Oct. 19 to French proposals to send international observers to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the latest in a diplomatic push to quell fears over a full-blown Palestinian uprising.

The United Nations Security Council will hold a special meeting on Oct. 16 to discuss the recent spate of violence between Israel and the Palestinians in which 39 people have been killed over the past two weeks. 

Israel bristled Oct. 15 at U.S. suggestions it may have used excessive force to confront Palestinian stabbings, and also published hospital images it said refuted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas?s allegation a teen suspect had been ?executed.? 

Israel started setting up roadblocks in Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem and deploying soldiers in cities across the country on Oct. 14 to try to combat the worst surge of violence in months.

Palestinian officials condemned the security measures - the most serious clampdown in the Jerusalem area since a Palestinian uprising a decade ago - as collective punishment. 

Palestinians celebrated the spate of stabbing attacks in separate assaults near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with a series of cartoons taht appeared on social media. Seven Israelis and 27 Palestinians have died over the last two weeks, reports Reuters. Meanwhile, Palestinians are using cartoons with various perspectives and special references to the Intifada (or uprising).

Turkey has ?strongly condemned? Israel for use of disproportionate force against Palestinians, calling for an urgent end to ?its provocative and arbitrary practices.?