U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the unabating violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Six months of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians, police, and soldiers have left nearly 30 Israelis dead, along with two Americans and an Eritrean. But police and solders have killed more than 160 Palestinians while attacking Jews or attempting to stab them with knives, or run them down with cars. “The Secretary continued to urge for calm and a decrease in violence, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement after the meeting during a visit to Jordan by the top U.S. diplomat. Kerry also stressed the U.S. commitment to seeking a sustainable two-state solution and reiterated the U.S. policy on the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements. Israel accuses Palestinian leaders of inciting young Palestinians to violence. But Palestinians say they are fed up with little job and economic opportunities, weak leadership, and a dim outlook for peace and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Kerry was in Jordan where he also met King Abdullah II, a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group.    

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