Fresh clashes despite peace push

Fresh violence flared between Israelis and Palestinians yesterday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to install more security cameras at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a bid to defuse tensions.

Israel and Jordan on Saturday strike a deal on Jerusalem holy site.

In a spate of incidents in the occupied West Bank a Palestinian woman was shot dead while trying to knife Israeli border police and a Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli man before fleeing, police said.

Meanwhile a Palestinian was seriously wounded after being shot several times by an Israeli settler while picking olives, according to Palestinian security sources.

Netanyahu on Saturday agreed on new measures to allay Palestinian fears that he plans to change longstanding rules governing the site, reports AFP.

He vowed Jews would continue to be allowed to visit but not pray at the compound and agreed that 24-hour surveillance cameras could be installed, adding these were in Israel's interest.

A US diplomat said on Saturday the United States is cutting economic aid for the Palestinian Authority, partly because of "unhelpful actions" by the Palestinians.

A specialised news site, al-Monitor, earlier said the US State Department intends to reduce aid for the West Bank and Gaza in fiscal 2016 from $370 million (335 million euros) to $290 million.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday said Israel and Jordan have agreed on moves aimed at reducing tensions surrounding a prominent holy site in Jerusalem.

Kerry was speaking after talks in Jordan, the formal custodian of what is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and as Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, reports BBC.

"All the violence and the incitement to violence must stop. Leaders must lead,'' Kerry told reporters.

The steps he announced include round-the-clock video monitoring and Israel's agreement to reaffirm Jordan's historic role as custodian of the religious complex.

"There are serious additional issues, security and otherwise, between Israelis and Palestinians that must be addressed but we've agreed that this is a first step to creating some space in order to allow us to resume those steps and that dialogue," he said.

He said having cameras inside will allow the Jordanian Waqf, which administers the site, "to control things better and not ignore that 30 youths entrenched themselves in the mosque overnight... with rocks, pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails."