Kol Israel national radio reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry returns to the region next Sunday and Monday to confirm with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the resumption of the long-stalled talks between Israel and the Palestinians, planned for May 11 in Turkey. Kerry will also make a trip to Ankara to set up a visit by PM Tayyip Erdogan to the White House, Washington in mid-May.
Israel observers see the current wave of violent unrest on the West Bank as useful for the Palestinian case in the forthcoming negotiations, while the Gaza violations appear to be Hamas’s assertion of its stake in the process.