JERUSALEM, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians may start as early as Sunday, on the eve of a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to the region, local daily Ha'aretz reported Thursday.
Should the talks take place, as proposed and strongly advocated by the United States, they would become the first formal Israeli- Palestinian negotiations since U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office early last year.
"The U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to arrive here on Monday, and the U.S. administration is keen to announce indirect negotiations before he lands, so he can congratulate the sides and present the talks as an American achievement," said the report.
Meanwhile, local newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday that the talks might commence during Biden's visit, as Biden would be the one to deliver the official Palestinian notification to Israel stating its willingness to enter indirect talks with the Jewish state.
The long-awaited dialogues, set to proceed with U.S. special envoy George Mitchell shuttling between the two sides, would end a 15-month standstill since Israel's massive military operation launched in late 2008 against the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, and is expected to help the two neighbors find a pathway back to direct negotiations.
Details of the expected talks are not yet available. Mitchell is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Saturday night and is slated to make necessary arrangements for starting the talks, according to Ha'aretz.
In a development opening the door for the talks, Arab League foreign ministers on Wednesday greenlighted the scheme, while stressing that the Palestinians would not enter direct negotiations before Israel completely halts Jewish construction activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly accepted the decision, and Israel and the United States also hailed it. Netanyahu on Wednesday said it seems that conditions are ripening for the two sides to start the proximity talks.
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