Push on for Mideast talks despite Jerusalem flap

By ARON HELLER
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - With pressure on from global mediators Friday, Israel and the Palestinians appeared likely to resume American-mediated indirect peace talks despite a flap over east Jerusalem construction.

But hopes for results remain dim. There's virtually no expectation here that hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can reach a deal with the Palestinians that eluded his more dovish Israeli predecessors.

Meeting in Moscow on Friday, the so-called Quartet of Mideast peacemakers, which includes the United States, Russia, European Union and United nations, called on Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations with a goal of reaching a peace deal that would create a Palestinian state within two years.

In a strongly worded statement read by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the Quartet reiterated its condemnation of Israeli construction in disputed east Jerusalem, promised to monitor developments there closely and renewed its call for a complete halt of all settlement activity.

But it did not escalate the feud over Israel's plans, announced last week, to build 1,600 new apartments in an east Jerusalem Jewish neighborhood. Speaking in Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also suggested Washington wanted to move beyond the feud to get planned Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks rolling.

The announcement of the new construction, during a visit to Jerusalem last week by Vice President Joe Biden, angered Washington. Clinton dressed down Netanyahu earlier this week, demanding concrete steps from Israel to get talks going. Clinton reportedly asked Israel to revoke its recent building decision, roll back on plans for new Jewish homes and make goodwill gestures such as releasing Palestinian prisoners and lifting some West Bank roadblocks.

On Friday, after a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, she took a positive tone. "What I heard from the prime minister in response to the requests we made was useful and productive," Clinton said.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the toughest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians claim its eastern, historically Arab part as the capital of a future state while Netanyahu objects to partitioning the city, retreating from positions of previous Israeli governments.

The international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem after the 1967 Mideast war and views the Jewish neighborhoods there as settlements like those Israel has built in the West Bank. Israel has only agreed to curb construction in the West Bank - for a 10-month period that ends in September.

The Quartet announcement comes ahead of a week of furious diplomatic activity.

Ban is to arrive in the region on Saturday. The next day, U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell returns to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders in hopes of getting the peace process restarted after a 15-month lull.

Netanyahu departs late Sunday to Washington, where is likely to meet with Biden and Clinton.

A spokesman for Netanyahu had no comment on the Quartet statement, but said Netanyahu suggested a series of confidence building measures in his Thursday phone conversation with Clinton that would help get talks back on track.

The Palestinians are unlikely to block that from happening. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to negotiate directly with Netanyahu as long as Israel keeps building in east Jerusalem. But he agreed to hold indirect talks, likely to be mediated by Mitchell, without insisting on such a freeze, before the current flap.

Abbas is to meet Monday with Mitchell to hear about the scope of the indirect talks with Israel. His aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said the Palestinians will seek American guarantees that Israel will revoke the decision to build 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem.

However, Palestinian officials said it appeared unlikely the Palestinians would defy mounting international pressure for a resumption of peace talks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Abbas has not made a final decision.

Abbas welcomed the Quartet statement on Friday.

"The basis of the problem is settlements, and in particular settlements in Jerusalem because Jerusalem has the same status as the West Bank," he said in a statement.

As diplomacy moved into high gear, Israeli-Palestinian friction continued, both on the Gaza-Israel border and in Jerusalem.

Late Friday, Israeli aircraft fired five missiles at the defunct international airport in Gaza and nearby tunnels, wounding 12 Palestinians, according to Hamas security officials. The Israeli military confirmed the attack, but did not elaborate.

The missile strike came a day after a rocket fired from Gaza killed a Thai worker on an Israeli communal farm near the Gaza border. It was the first such death since Israel's three-week war on Gaza's Hamas rulers last year.

Rocket fire from Gaza dropped off sharply after the war, but has picked up in recent days. Israel has said it holds Hamas responsible for the renewed attacks, though Hamas' opponents have claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.

In Jerusalem, Palestinians lobbed rocks at Israeli security forces, set garbage bins and tires ablaze and torched an Israeli flag.

Israeli forces responded with tear gas and stun grenades, but no serious injuries were reported.

Violent protests have erupted several times in the past week in east Jerusalem, where residents are angry over both the new Jewish housing plans and unsubstantiated rumors that Jewish extremists are plotting to take over an Old City shrine, holy to both Muslims and Jews.

There were also sporadic, low-level clashes at a small number of other points in the West Bank.

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Associated Press Writer Karin Laub in Gaza City, Gaza Strip contributed to this report.