With signals of a rapidly approaching end in fulfillment of Rev. 13 piling up in the United States, religio-political conditions in Palestine are remarkably quiet. Jerusalem is still in the spotlight; but with little perceptible evidence of advancing fulfillment of Dan. 11:45 beyond the stage that it reached several years ago. Little wonder then that Jesus admonished us repeatedly to "Watch." This requires consistent attention to current events, and resistence against slumber. The prophecy will be fulfilled, and events may quicken suddenly as they did with Donald Trump's appearance on the American and world stage in 2015:-

From [D]@gmail.com:

Daily life stable after Jerusalem embassy fracas, Holy Land prelate says

While the controversial transfer of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem may have triggered a political and diplomatic hurricane, the top Catholic in the Holy Land says that in terms of daily life in the holy city, it’s been little more than a soft spring rain.

“In terms of the practical details of ordinary life, not much has changed,” said Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem is traditionally a meeting point and a bridge for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and now all that is gone, which is probably the most dramatic effect [of the move],” he said.

“But I repeat, that’s in terms of the political situation,” he said. “At the level of daily life, things are basically unchanged.”

Pizzaballa, an Italian cleric and member of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, spoke in Rome on Saturday. He was appointed to his present role by Pope Francis in 2016. . .

It’s certainly not that Pizzaballa is blind to the human toll of the anger and hopelessness the decision has spawned in some quarters.

“Once again, the lives of many young people are being snuffed out and hundreds of families are crying over their dead,” he said, in a statement shortly after the embassy move happened. “One more time, in a sort of vicious circle, we find ourselves denouncing every form of violence, every cynical use of human life and disproportionate violence.”

On Saturday, he was more direct in terms of the political results of the move, saying both it and the response it generated demonstrated that the model of a peace process embodied in the 1993 Oslo Accords between then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and both then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, all of whom would receive the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, was over. . .

Asked if the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is now “impossible,” Piazzaballa said “it remains the ideal.”

“Obviously, dialogue is essential because the current situation cannot stand,” he said. “But right now, it’s hard to anticipate the what, how and when [of a new peace process], because now the parties are not only not dialoguing, there’s no will to dialogue.”

Pizzaballa also commented on long-running efforts to reach agreement between the Vatican and Israel on the legal and tax status of Church properties in the country, pursuant to a 1993 Fundamental Agreement between the two sides.

Ever since, a bilateral working commission has been attempting to work out a deal.

“At the moment, the churches are living in a sort of limbo,” he said. . .

Into the stalemate over the Jerusalem question, there has been an intriguing action - perhaps an intervention - by Russia:

From [D]@gmail.com:

In first such event, Russia celebrates its national day in Jerusalem

Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov notes Moscow's recognition of western part of the city as Israel's capital but stresses that eastern section belongs to the Palestinians

The Russian Embassy in Israel on Thursday evening for the first time hosted its National Day reception in Jerusalem, a nod to Moscow’s April 2017 recognition of Western Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. . .

It is widely believed to be the first-ever national day event by a foreign embassy to take place in Jerusalem. . .

Virtually all foreign embassies in Israel hold their annual independence day or national day celebrations in the Tel Aviv area. Even the US, which earlier on May 14 relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, will hold this year’s July 4th reception in Airport city, outside Tel Aviv.

In April 2017, Russia surprised many by recognizing Western Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. However, Moscow has made plain that it considers East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state and vehemently opposed the US administration’s December 6 decision to recognize all Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

In his speech, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov, too, highlighted the fact that this year’s Russia Day celebration is being hosted in Jerusalem. However, he stressed that the recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital was contingent on the eastern part of the city becoming the seat of a future State of Palestine after a peace deal has been reached.

“We stand ready to facilitate such an agreement,” he said.

The Russian motivation looks pretty transparent:-

(a) To replace the United States as an "honest broker" in the now seemingly moribund "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians:

Trump Just Sabotaged His Own Peace Process

The president has ended any hope that the United States can broker a diplomatic solution in the Holy Land.

President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as a prelude to moving the U.S. Embassy there, has thrown a wrench into an already moribund peace process and could well mean the end of U.S. efforts to forge a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. Despite near-unanimous global opposition from Arab, European, and other world leaders, all of whom have cautioned that such a move could have dire consequences, Trump’s decision overturns 70 years of U.S. policy while undermining the basic international norms that have undergirded the peace process for decades. The Palestinian leadership has condemned the move, which it said effectively disqualifies the United States from serving as peace broker, and warned it would throw an already volatile region into chaos. . .

Jerusalem remains one of the thorniest issues in the century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as a powerful political and religious symbol for billions of people around the world. While Israel claims Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided” capital, Palestinians consider the eastern portion of the city, occupied by Israel since 1967, as the capital of their future state. However one parses the president’s words, today’s announcement will be interpreted in the Middle East and beyond as an American attempt to predetermine its status — or even hand it, in its entirety, to Israel — which is destined to have lasting repercussions across the region.

(b) To gain favor with the Israelis by recognizing West Jerusalem as Israel's capital:

In curious first, Russia recognizes West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

Taken aback, Foreign Ministry says it is studying Moscow's statement, which also calls for Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem

In an unexpected, unprecedented and curious move, Moscow on Thursday said it considers West Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital, making Russia the first country in the world to extend such a recognition to any part of the city.

“We reaffirm our commitment to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. At the same time, we must state that in this context we view West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said in a statement.

Russia’s surprising announcement came as US President Donald Trump considers moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It is unclear what prompted Moscow’s decision and whether other countries in its sphere of influence will follow suit. . .

At this point it is unclear whether the Israeli government would welcome the recognition of West Jerusalem as its capital, since Israel claims the entire city as its eternal united capital.

Recognizing only the Western part of it would appear to deny Israel’s claims to the eastern part, including the Old City, which it captured in 1967 and subsequently annexed. The Russian statement specifically said that Moscow views “East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state.” . . .

On the other hand, Russia’s step confers legitimacy on part of Israel’s declaration of Jerusalem as its capital. The rest of the international community adamantly refuses to recognize even this, arguing that the status of the entire city has to be determined in peace negotiations.

Under the 1948 partition plan, Jerusalem, with its holy sites, was designated an international city. . .

In private conversations, Israeli officials said they were unfazed by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s declaration to recognize the western part of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, pointing to the fact that the statement placed the recognition in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, which is still elusive.

Especially problematic for Israel is the reference to “UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement.” This is likely the reason for the skepticism in Jerusalem, as all binding UN decisions, most recently Security Council Resolution 2334, adapt parameters that are anathema to the Israeli government, such as the establishment of a Palestinian state in the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.

“Moscow is deeply concerned about the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Palestine and Israel have not held political negotiations for nearly three years, and the situation on the ground has been deteriorating,” the Russian ministry’s statement read. “The stalling of the Middle East peace process has created conditions for unilateral moves that undermine the potential for an internationally accepted solution to the Palestinian problem, under which two states – Israel and Palestine – could live in peace and security with each other and with their neighbors.”

The statement goes on to affirm Russia’s support for a two-state solution, which is described as an “optimal option” that meets the national interests of both Israelis and Palestinians.

“The concrete parameters of a solution for the entire range of issues regarding the status of Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, should be coordinated at the direct talks between the parties involved,” the Russian statement said.

Equally as curious as the new Russian policy on Jerusalem is the existence of extraordinarily warm relations between the Evangelical supporters of Donald Trump and Putin's Russia, and the rock-solid support by the same Evangelicals for Israeli hegemony over Jerusalem and the whole of Palestine. Time will tell whether there is significance in this strange convergence of circumstances.

Rome is probably unlikely to have been displeased by Russia's move. Her continued relentless focus on Jerusalem is evidenced by the following report:-

From [D]@gmail.com:

Pope Francis: Jerusalem must be protected from political disputes

Pope Francis stressed Friday the important role the Eastern Catholic Churches play in spreading the Gospel given that many of them are concentrated in the Holy Land, and said Jerusalem in particular should be protected from tensions and political disputes.

“The Oriental Catholic Churches, as living witnesses to their apostolic origins, are called in a special way to protect and pass on a spark of Pentecostal fire,” the pope said according to prepared remarks June 22. “They are called daily to discover anew their own prophetic presence in all those places where they dwell as pilgrims.”

This, he said, begins with Jerusalem, “whose identity and particular vocation needs to be safeguarded beyond different tensions and political disputes.” . . .

Francis then prayed that holy places such as Jerusalem, “where God’s plan was fulfilled in the mystery of the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,” would be the birth place of “a renewed spirit of strength to inspire Christians in the Holy Land and the Middle East to embrace their special vocation and to offer an account of their faith and their hope.” . . .

Francis' comments on Jerusalem come after the United States on May 14 opened an embassy in the city, making the U.S. the only country to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel since the state was established in 1948.

Israel has claimed Jerusalem as its capital. However, Palestinians claim that the eastern portion of the city is the capital of the future Palestinian state.

Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognized by the international community, and all countries but the US have embassies in Tel Aviv. Trump's decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, then, was met with fierce backlash not only from international interlocutors, but also by the Vatican.

After Trump announced the change last December, Pope Francis expressed his “deep concern” and issued an appeal to the international community to ensure that “everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations.”

The United Nations' Resolutions calling for the internationalization of Jerusalem are still supported by a majority of the nations of the world. The question is how suddenly and/or rapidly will they be implemented, signalling there is only a very short period of time remaining of this world's history.