Moscow: Two members of the international quartet of Middle East mediators suggested on Friday that stalled indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians may be unblocked in coming days.
Speaking after a meeting in Moscow of the group -- comprising the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- quartet envoy Tony Blair said to a news agency he hoped for a package of measures to get the talks started.
"I hope very much that in the next few days we will have a package that gives people the sense that, yes, despite all the difficulties of the past few days, it is worth having proximity talks and then those leading to direct negotiations," he said.
Blair declined to give details of the package of measures, saying: "That will become clear as the days unfold."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Moscow for the quartet meeting, also suggested progress. She said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given a "useful and productive" response to her concerns on the settlement issue during a telephone conversation on Thursday. She did not give details.
The quartet called for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of producing an agreement within 24 months to end Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state.
The latest obstacle to the peace talks came 10 days ago when Israel announced, during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, that it would build 1,600 new housing units in a part of Jerusalem that it captured in 1967 and annexed unilaterally.
The quartet called on Israel and the Palestinians to avoid "provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric" and told Israel to freeze all settlement building, dismantle outposts erected since March 2001 and halt demolitions in East Jerusalem.
"We are convinced that this was all heard in Israel and that they have correctly understood," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who hosted the meeting, told reporters.
Gaza strike
The Palestinians welcomed the quartet`s declaration.
"It is a very important statement. The statement is in full harmony with the Palestinian and the Arab position," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "It is of vital importance that Israel abides by this statement so that the peace process can resume."
The Israeli government declined to comment.
The quartet did not say how it could ensure its calls, which have gone unheeded in the past, would be respected. It promised only to "closely monitor developments in Jerusalem and to keep under consideration additional steps that may be required".
Hours before the quartet met, Israeli aircraft struck at least six targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory the previous day, which killed a Thai worker in Israel.
The quartet`s statement condemned the rocket fire and called for an "immediate end to violence and terror".
But it added: "The quartet is deeply concerned by the continuing deterioration in Gaza, including the humanitarian and human rights situation of the civilian population, and stresses the urgency of a resolution to the Gaza crisis."
Stone-throwing Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in a few towns in the West Bank. Palestinian medics said eight people were wounded by police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. One Israeli soldier was wounded, the military said.
U N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would go to Gaza on Sunday to see the situation for himself. The EU was represented in Moscow by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Netanyahu`s spokesman said the Israeli prime minister had proposed "mutual confidence-building measures by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank" to Clinton, but did not elaborate.
The Palestinians say they will not enter indirect peace talks unless Israel scraps the new settlement plans.
The quartet was formed in 2002 in Spain to assist in mediating an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its achievements so far have been meager, leading some analysts to dismiss it as an expensive club for diplomats.
Moscow had hoped to organize a full-scale international conference on the Middle East this year but the lack of progress on peace talks forced it to settle for the quartet meeting.
‘US-Israeli ties strong’
Hillary on Friday described the relationship between Israel and the United States as "deep and broad, strong and enduring".
She said, however, that the United States stood behind the Quartet`s call for a freeze on all settlement activity.
"We all condemn the (settlement) announcement and we are all expecting both parties to move toward the proximity talks," Hillary said.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat welcomed the Quartet`s call, but asked also for a mechanism to "make sure that Israel does effectively halt completely all settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem."
"We welcome the statement and we urge the Quartet to turn its statements into binding mechanisms on the ground so that Israel honours its commitments, above all halting all settlement activity in all the Palestinian territories -- the West Bank and east Jerusalem," Erakat said.
As well as Hillary and Ban, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton were present at the meeting along with former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is the Quartet`s representative.
Ashton`s visit to Moscow comes a day after she made a rare trip by a top foreign official to the Gaza Strip that was overshadowed by fresh violence.
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Thursday slammed into an Israeli kibbutz killing a Thai agricultural worker just a few kilometres (miles) from the Gaza border.
Hours later, Israeli aircraft hit several targets across the Gaza Strip but there were no reports of serious injuries, Palestinian security officials said.
Ban said the quartet was "deeply concerned" about the situation in the Gaza Strip, "including the humanitarian and human rights situation of the civilian population."
Amid an intense flurry of diplomatic activity, Ban is to visit the Middle East, including Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, this weekend.
A senior Palestinian official on Thursday said that the United States` special Middle East envoy George Mitchell would arrive in the region on Sunday for a visit that had been delayed by the row with Israel.
Bureau Report
