Israel And Palestinian Authority agreed today to establish a mechanism to contain violence during a meeting today in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egyptaimed at preventing further escalation in the West Bank ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins later this week.

In a statement released after the meeting, which was attended by US, Egyptian and Jordanian officials, both sides stressed the need for both Palestinians and Israelis to prevent actions that could violate the sanctity of the Holy Sites. during Ramadan.

At the same time, both sides reiterated the need for de-escalation and reaffirmed the commitments they made at their previous meeting in Aqaba in February. These included a commitment by the Israelis to suspend for four months discussions on the construction of new houses in Jewish settlements and to suspend for six months the issuance of permits to build settlements without a permit.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}