Mid-East talks on 'core issues'

There have been a series of meetings since the Annapolis talks

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have begun talks in Jerusalem on what are seen as the most intractable issues in the peace process.

These include the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, refugees, security and water resources.

The talks are being led by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Three Palestinian militants died in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Sunday.

The vehicle in which the men were travelling through the Shati refugee camp near Gaza City was struck by an Israeli Air Force missile.

If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority President

The raid had targeted militants involved in attacks on Israel, the Israeli military said.

One of the men has been named as Nidal Amudi, who was a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Another was identified as Mahir Mabhuh, who belonged to another group, while the identity of the third militant was unknown.

'Final agreement'

During a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Mr Abbas said the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams would begin discussion of the core "final stage issues" in the peace process at their meeting on Monday.

"If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement," he said, adding that any peace treaty would have to resolve the disputes over all issues.

The talks come in the wake of an Israeli air strike in Gaza

Mr Abbas added that both sides would at the same time have to implement the first phase of the "road map" formulated by the Middle East Quartet in 2003, which suggests how a final settlement might be approached, and resolve economic and security issues in the West Bank.

The first phase of the road map requires:

• Both sides to issue statements supporting the two-state solution
• The Palestinians to end violence, act against "all those engaged in terror", draw up a constitution and hold elections
• The Israelis to stop settlement building activities and act with military restraint

A spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev, also confirmed the negotiating teams would meet on Monday, and that they had received a mandate to discuss the core issues.

Hamas offer

Prospects for a comprehensive settlement were given fresh impetus by the US peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland, in November, after which Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to restart talks after seven years.

OBSTACLES TO PEACE

US President George W Bush, who visited Israel and the West Bank last week, has said Israel and the Palestinians could sign a peace treaty within a year.

"I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office," he told reporters in Ramallah on Thursday.

In his speech, Mr Abbas said he had warned the president that the Palestinians could not move ahead in the negotiations while Jewish settlements continued to be built in the West Bank.

"We can't have negotiations while they are building houses all over," he added.

The Palestinian leader also said he was willing to restart talks with the Islamist movement, Hamas, if it relinquished control of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas ousted Mr Abbas's Fatah movement from the coastal territory in June following a week of violent clashes.

"I am ready to negotiate with Hamas even if the United States does not accept it," he said. "Such a dialogue is very important."

A Hamas statement denounced Mr Abbas's speech as "full of lies and fabrications".

Hamas ready for talks with rival

The Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, has said it has agreed to hold reconciliation talks with the rival Fatah group of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya suggested it might be willing to relinquish control of Gaza, which it seized from Fatah in June, in a statement on its website.

Mr Haniya said his group's control of the coastal territory was "temporary".

Mr Abbas has ruled out reconciliation with Hamas until it gives up the Gaza Strip and submits to his authority.

Later, a senior Fatah official, Ahmed Abdul Rahman, denied that talks had been planned and accused Hamas of trying to mislead the public.

"We have not heard about such a dialogue," he told the Reuters news agency.

After Hamas ejected Fatah from Gaza, Mr Abbas declared Mr Haniya's coalition government void and appointed a new prime minister.

Dialogue

"There is a serious movement in the realm of Palestinian dialogue and we have agreed to hold a dialogue with Fatah in one of the Arab capitals," Mr Haniya said in the statement.

"Our administration in Gaza is temporary," he added.

We have said all the time that we are ready to discuss all the issues on the negotiating table Ahmed Yousef Adviser to Ismail Haniya

Mr Haniya said the talks would be held after Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

One of Mr Haniya's advisers, Ahmed Yousef, told that Hamas had always been ready to renew dialogue with Fatah.

"We have said all the time that we are ready to discuss all the issues on the negotiating table, and we are willing that one of these countries like Egypt or Saudi Arabia mediate or facilitate such a kind of meeting," he told the World Today programme.

Mr Yousef insisted that Hamas had not, and had never intended to establish a separate Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip.

"Any future Palestinian state should include all occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza," he added. "This is going to be the future Palestinian state, so there is no intention for anybody to have a state in Gaza."