Tel Aviv, September 03: US special envoy George Mitchell has met Tel Aviv officials over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a week after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US special envoy said he had a ‘good meeting’ with two Israeli officials on Wednesday and would continue discussions next week.
The Wednesday meeting followed talks between Mitchell and Netanyahu in London last week on bringing about a freeze on Israeli settlement activities on the Palestinian territories.
“Senator Mitchell had a good meeting with the prime minister’s envoy and the Defense Ministry chief of staff (Michael Herzog),” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a brief statement.
“Senator Mitchell and the Israeli delegation reaffirmed their commitment to comprehensive peace, and concrete steps by all parties toward that goal. We look forward to continuing the discussion when Senator Mitchell returns to the region late next week”, Kelly said.
President Barack Obama’s administration, backed by European nations, has pushed the Israeli premier for a complete halt in settlements, to pave the way for a resumption of peace talks suspended late last year.
The Obama administration hopes to announce a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks this month during the UN General Assembly.
Palestinians say a halt in all construction activities, which Israel describes as ‘natural growth of settlements’, is a major obstacle in the peace process and that Israel has failed to fulfill its obligations for international agreements.
Last month, in a bid to gain US support for its large-scale takeover of Palestinian land, the Israeli government agreed to freeze settlement activities temporarily, until the beginning of 2010.
Israel had previously defied international and US calls for freezing the construction of settlements in the occupied territories and it has stalled the peace process with the Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has recently announced plans for the construction of hundreds of new Jewish homes in the territory, including in East al-Quds, where the Palestinians consider their future capital city.
—–Agencies