Egypt Hosts Second Round of Mid-East Peace Talks

World | September 14, 2010, Tuesday // 08:21
Bulgaria: Egypt Hosts Second Round of Mid-East Peace Talks Hillary Clinton (C) is pictured here holding Middle East peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (R) at the State Department in Washington, DC on 2 September, 2010. Photo by EPA

Israeli and Palestinian leaders are to hold a second round of peace talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will hold separate talks with Mr Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and then host a trilateral meeting.

Another three-way meeting will take place in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

As she flew to Egypt, Clinton said: "It's time to get down to business."

She also sought to counter those who say the first direct talks in 20 months are not likely to lead to a final status agreement.

"For me, this is a simple choice - no negotiations, no security, no state," she said. "There is no prospect for success in the absence of direct negotiations."

The secretary of state described the first round of talks in Washington on 2 September as positive, but made it clear that both the Israelis and the Palestinians now had to refrain from doing anything that could interfere with the negotiations.

This included not ending the moratorium on settlement construction, she added, echoing recent comments by President Barack Obama

The Palestinian Authority has said it will walk out of the negotiations if building on occupied territory resumes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he could not extend the moratorium, but would not allow thousands of planned homes to be built.

"We will not freeze the lives of the residents," he said.

However, the chief Palestinian negotiator said there could be no "half solutions".

Another problem facing negotiators is that only one part of the Palestinian territories is represented because the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, opposes the talks.

The BBC's Jon Donnison is Gaza City says most Gazans, whether Hamas supporters or not, seem at best sceptical, and at worst excluded or simply not interested in the resumption of the talks.

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Tags: Israel, Israeli, Palestine, Palestinian, US, Barack Obama, Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, peace, attacks, Gaza Strip, Hamas

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