Middle East
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Mideast Peace Talks To Begin Soon
August 20, 2010 - 3:21 AM | by: Reena NinanDirect Talks to Begin Between Israel and the Palestinians
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Friday that Israel and the Palestinians will begin direct peace talks. An invitation was extended to both parties for a summit in Washington on Sept 2. A one year deadline has been set for the talks.
Both Israeli and Palestinian officials say they welcome the call for direct talks, and both are expected to accept the invitation.
"We are hopeful that when these negotiations start, we can move forward dealing with all the core issues without preconditions," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's office.
Palestinian officials tell Fox News that they will meet this evening to decide whether to accept the invitation. It is almost certain that they will be attending.
"The timetable of one year for negotiations is doable," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
The Quartet, a group composed of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia, issued a statement today also voicing its "strong support" for talks to begin.
American officials tell Fox News that the White House set a tentative deadline of 2011 for the creation of a Palestinian state. Palestinians have said previously that they will not enter into direct talks unless Israel agrees first that a future Palestinian state would follow the 1967 border -- the border between the two territories as it was on the eve of the 1967 Six Day War.
Both sides would still be grappling with the same issues that have bogged down previous peace talks: the outline for borders of a future state, Jerusalem's status, Israeli security, and whether Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to the homes they had before Israel's creation.
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