After a series of informal talks, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders took a first small step toward elusive peace talks, asking aides to draft a joint statement on the principles that will guide negotiations.
The declaration will not be as detailed as the Palestinians had hoped, but Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday that it is expected to address all the tough issues -- borders, Jewish settlements, Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
The statement, which the teams will begin working on next week, is to be the centerpiece of a US-hosted Mideast conference next month, which is intended to relaunch peace talks that collapsed in January 2001.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to return to the region next week, meet with both sides and set a date for the conference, Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said.
"She will see how things are going, and according to that, the date would be set," he said.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to his Jerusalem residence, their sixth meeting since the spring.
No refreshments were served because Abbas is observing the dawn-to-dusk fast of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Olmert, in turn, gave the Palestinian leader a brief tour of his sukka, a traditional hut erected during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
The two leaders spent an hour alone, and then brought in the senior aides who will draft the joint document. Olmert's aides said the atmosphere was relaxed.
Initially, the Palestinians had sought a detailed framework agreement that would spell out solutions for the main disputes and include timetables for implementation. However, Israel insisted on a more general statement of intent.
In their meetings, Abbas and Olmert have already talked in broad strokes about some of the difficult issues.
For example, both raised the idea of a land swap, in which Israel would keep some West Bank land to incorporate Jewish settlements and compensate the Palestinians with the same amount of Israeli territory. Olmert's aides have said the two talked about the principle only, not about specific land.
It's widely expected the two sides will pick up negotiations where they left off in 2001, the last round of peace talks held at the Egyptian resort of Taba. At the time, the Palestinian uprising and a harsh Israeli crackdown were already in full swing, but negotiators had made headway, especially on a border deal based on land swaps.
In other developments, an explosion went off early yesterday near a group of Hamas policemen patrolling in Gaza City, wounding three, including one critically, Hamas officials said.
Hamas blamed Fatah for the attack, and said it has rounded up several suspects.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese