U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Abu Dhabi on Saturday as she continued the push for a Middle East peace deal.
Mrs Clinton, who arrived in Abu Dhabi following her trip to Pakistan, will be flying on to Israel later on Saturday where she will hold evening meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
According to
Reuters an aide to President Abbas confirmed that the talks with the U.S. Secretary of State were not particularly fruitful, with no agreement, however tentative, reached for the renewal of talks on peace between the Palestinians and Israel.
An unnamed Palestinian source spoke to
Ynet regarding the prospects for renewed negotiations, the last peace talks took place in December, and the almost no-win situation in which President Abbas, for one, finds himself. The source said:
At the end of the current round the renewal of negotiations will probably be announced. We are witnessing pressure from the Americans and a number of Arab elements to stop conditioning the renewal of negotiations on the halting of settlements.
In both scenarios, the Palestinian Authority will not come out strong. If the renewed negotiations don't produce results, this will harm Abbas and the authority. If negotiations are not renewed this will also harm us, but less. This is why the dilemma is difficult
An official from the State Department has indicated that Mrs Clinton's meetings on Saturday with Palestinian and Israeli leaders were intended to help her prepare for a development summit next week in Morocco. There she will meet Arab foreign ministers whose support for the restart of peace talks is seen as critical.
The U.S., particularly President Obama, is, says Mrs Clinton, eager to see a two-state solution to the long-running problems in the Middle East.
Reuters notes that U.S. envoy, George Mitchell has frequently met with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in recent times, yet meaningful talks on bringing peace to the region appear to be as far away as ever.
The Palestinians continue to insist that the Israelis call a halt to settlement building, in accordance with a 2003 "road map" for peace, whilst Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, having bowed to pressure from the U.S. to discuss the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, is adamant that such a state must be demilitarised. In addition he wants Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state of Israel.
Whilst acknowledging Israeli concerns about security Mrs Clinton, speaking to the
BBC, said that the U.S. has serious reservations about the construction of more Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The
Independent provided information in an article earlier in the year which explained the history of the settlements and exactly what they represent to both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
France 24 reports that attempts to end the Middle East conflict are being hampered too by the recent publication by the U.N. of a report which details war crimes committed during the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, which occurred last December and January.
Hamas and Israel are both accused of committing war crimes, up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis lost their lives as the occupation took place, but Israel believes that it has been unfairly criticized and has accused the U.N. Human Rights Council of bias.
