Rice: Israel and Palestinian peace talks will resume

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 03-06-2008 09:24

Turning to the Middle East US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to resume peace talks.

At a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni(R)in Jerusalem, Rice said Israeli and  Palestinian leaders intend to resume peace negotiations. (CCTV.com)

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says there will be no further attacks on Hamas-ruled Gaza if Palestinian militants stop rocket salvoes.

At a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem, Rice said Israeli and Palestinian leaders intend to resume peace negotiations.

She says the two sides should meet their commitments under the long-stalled peace "road map".

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, said, "I've been informed by the parties that they intend to resume the negotiations and that they are in contact with one another as to how to bring this about."

Rice says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has not repeated his conditions for talks.

Earlier, Abbas said negotiations could not get under way again until Israel reached a ceasefire with militants responsible for cross-border rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

But the Israeli Prime Minister has still maintained a condition for reaching such a ceasefire- that is-- no more rocket attacks from Palestinian militants.

Ehud Olmert, Israeli Foreign Minister, said, "The security cabinet authorized the defense apparatus to take a varied series of steps to stop the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on Israel.

One thing should be clear: If there is no rocket fire on Israel, there will be no Israeli attack on Gaza."

Abbas and Olmert formally relaunched final-status peace talks following a US-hosted summit in Annapolis in Maryland last November promising to forge a final peace agreement by the end of the year.

But negotiations, restarted after seven years of fighting, have been plagued by the latest violence in which more than 120 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have been killed within a week.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei