Egypt has stepped up mediation between Israel and the Palestinians in a bid to tamp down violence in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank and to prevent its spread to the Gaza Strip ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, officials said.
This week Cairo hosted leaders from Gaza's ruling Hamas Islamist militant group and from the smaller, allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group, according to the officials. Talks with Israeli representatives were held earlier, they said.
West Bank violence, which surged last year as Israel intensified raids following a series of lethal Palestinian street attacks in Israeli cities, has picked up pace since a hard-right Israeli government was sworn in on Dec. 29.
