Israel steps back in its settlement policy

Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged to de-escalate surging violence after meeting on Sunday, issuing a joint statement in which Israel said it would halt discussions about new settlement units in the West Bank for four months.

Attended by senior U.S., Jordanian and Egyptian officials in addition to the Israeli and Palestinian delegations, the meeting in Aqaba, Jordan was the first of its kind in years.

The Israeli and Palestinian sides said in their statement that they would work closely to prevent "further violence" and "reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground". They affirmed their commitment to previous agreements.

Jordan said the understandings were "major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides".

Israel and the Palestinian Authority "confirmed their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months", the statement said. "This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for four months and to stop authorisation of any outposts for six months."

U.N. position

The U.N. Security Council issued a formal statement on Feb. 20 denouncing Israel's plan to expand settlements on Palestinian territory, the first action the United States has allowed the body to take against Israel in six years.

The participants will meet again in March in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. They agreed to "maintain positive momentum and expand this agreement towards wider political process leading to a just and lasting peace", their statement said.