In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in 1 village nr. Hebron at night; patrols in 1 village nr. Hebron in the afternoon and in al-‘Arub and 1 village nr. Hebron at night. Jewish settlers vandalize a Palestinian-owned car nr. Nablus. (PCHR 4/3)
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest tells reporters that the Obama administration is “disappointed by the unhelpful, unilateral actions” taken by both Israel and the Palestinians “in recent days.” Earnest also says that Kerry is “in close touch with our negotiating team, which remains on the ground in the region to continue discussions with the parties.” U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk meets separately with Israeli and Palestinian chief negotiators Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erakat, though no details are provided of the contents of their discussions. Unnamed U.S. officials say that U.S. negotiators’ efforts to extend negotiations have reached a breaking point, with the White House believing that “the 2 sides need to work their way out of the current impasse.” Israeli FM Lieberman says the “ball is in [the Palestinians’] court” with regard to advancing peace efforts. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, publishes a statement confirming Abbas’s decision to sign letters of accession to 15 multilateral treaties the previous day. It explains that the step was directly related to Israel’s refusal to follow through with the 4th and final prisoner release that was scheduled for 3/29. Meanwhile, Palestinian amb. to the UN Ibrahim Khraishi says that Palestine could join up to 550 treaties and conventions, adding that the 15 submitted applications will take 3 to 4 mos. for approval. However, at the same time, Palestinian officials also say that if Israel indeed releases the prisoners as part of a framework agreement, the PA will not follow up its applications to join UN institutions. Meanwhile, U.S. Amb. to the UN Samantha Power tells a House of Representatives panel that a “newly formed U.S.-Israeli team meets monthly to discuss and coordinate responses to possible unilateral actions by the Palestinians at the UN.” Separately, the Arab League calls an emergency meeting of FMs for 4/9, in response to the breakdown in talks, at the request of Pres. Abbas. (AFP, HA, MNA, NYT, REU, WAFA 4/2)