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Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R)
poses with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during their meeting
in Jerusalem Nov. 4, 2007, in this picture released by the Israeli
Government Press Office (GPO). (Xinhua/Reuter Photo)
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JERUSALEM,
Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday evening that
there is an opportunity for peace talks as the Palestinian leadership is
committed to agreements signed in past years, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth
reported on its website.
According to the prime minister, speaking at the
Saban Forum in Jerusalem, Israel and the Palestinians will engage in rigorous
talks immediately after the upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace conference, and some
concrete achievements may be obtained even before U.S. President George W.
Bush's term in office ends at the end of 2008.
"Under the current circumstances, we have a partner
and we are not willing to postpone the negotiations with the Palestinians to a
time when this partner may not be able to fulfill the task," Olmert was quoted
as saying.
"We shall not negotiate Israel's right to exist as a
Jewish state, or the Palestinian people's right to their own state," Olmert
stressed, referring to the negotiating talks ahead of peace summit to be held in
Annapolis, Maryland later this year.
"Annapolis will not be an arena for negotiations, but
it will certainly be a starting point for the real effort to realize the
two-state vision," he added.
Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
said at the forum that now was the time to take chances for peace, calling on
the Arab states to actively strive for peace with Israel.
Rice stated that both sides have waited too long for
a resolution to the conflict, adding that painful sacrifices would have to be
made by Israel and the Palestinians.
Earlier at the forum, Tony Blair, the Quartet's envoy
to the Middle East, said the Annapolis conference should serve as platform for a
Palestinian state, and that the international community should support the
process.
On Monday, Rice will meet Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas, Ahmed Qurei who heads the negotiating team and Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel and the Palestinians have
been engaged in intensive talks in an effort to draft a joint statement
outlining a solution to the decades-old conflict ahead of the Annapolis
conference.
The Palestinians have repeatedly demanded that the
joint statement include a clear timetable for the negotiations, but Israel has
insisted on a looser document.
Israeli strikes kill 2 militants, 3
civilians in N Gaza
GAZA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinian militants
were killed by a second Israeli shelling in northern Gaza Strip roughly an hour
after three civilians were killed in an airstrike on Sunday morning, witnesses
said.
The witnesses also said that a ground-to-ground
missile has targeted a group of Islamic Jihad (Holy War) fighters while they
were firing home-made rockets into Israel from eastern Jabaliya refugee camp in
northern Gaza Strip. Full story
Abbas: Israeli-Palestinian negations
hard
RAMALLAH, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday described the talks with Israel ahead of a U.S.-hosted
peace conference as "hard and difficult."
However, the moderate Palestinian president still
expressed hope that the Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams can reach a
joint document outlining the Palestinian "national legitimate rights" ahead of
the conference later this year. Full story
Haneya delivers speech on status of
affairs amid tightened siege
GAZA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Deposed Palestinian prime
minister Ismail Haneya, who is also a Hamas leader in Gaza, Sunday delivered a
speech before hundreds of supporters in Gaza City, making out the Islamic
movement's stances toward a series of issues facing the movement and the
enclave.
In a 90-minute speech, Haneya verbal attacked
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah movement for standing with Israel
and the United States on the Gaza siege. Full story
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