GAZA, July 16 (KUNA) -- US President Barack Obama is expected to announce a diplomatic plan soon for renewal of the Middle East peace process, reported the Haaretz on Thursday.
The newspaper quoted a senior Western diplomat closely involved in current contacts involving the US, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and moderate Arab states as saying that the American administration was currently developing the diplomatic plan, but was only interested in pursuing it after the settlement issue and the matter of pro-Israel gestures from the Arab states are resolved.
The American plan will essentially restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians which have been deadlocked for over six months. The plan will not deal with all of the specific details of the negotiations and will not provide parameters for the resolution of core issues. Rather it will provide a framework for negotiations, how they will be conducted, follow-up mechanisms and especially the timetable for negotiations.
The senior diplomat said Obama was interested in bringing talks to a conclusion "on time" as a way of obligating the parties to make progress.
The diplomat also noted that the US was now interested in reaching a compromise with Israel on the settlement issue as a prelude to presentation of the American plan, as the Americans had understood that Israel could not agree to an absolute freeze in construction in the settlements.
The change in the American view on the issue was the result of the fact that about 2,500 homes in the settlements are in various advanced stages of construction which cannot be halted. (end) mzt.ema KUNA 161145 Jul 09NNNN
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
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