No progress in Abbas-Olmert meeting

Palestinians: No delay over Jerusalem

GCC Secretary General condemns Israeli massacres in Gaza, calls on Palestinians to favor unity

Palestinian chief justice urges OIC to save Jerusalem from Judaization attempts

U.N. calls on Israel to stop settlement, end Gaza closure

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to accelerate U.S.-backed peace talks after critics warned Israel not enough was being done to get a deal this year.

The negotiations, which President George W. Bush hopes will yield an agreement on Palestinian statehood before he leaves office next January, have been stalled by disputes over Israeli plans to build new homes near Jerusalem and Olmert's insistence on putting off talks on the fate of the Holy city.

After months of delay, Olmert and Abbas agreed on to set up working groups that will tackle side issues like water use, Israeli officials said.

Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said negotiators would meet "almost daily" going forward.

Ahead of the meeting in Jerusalem, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, France's foreign minister and top U.N. officials said the pace of negotiations was too slow to reach a statehood deal before the end of the year. Fayyad said talks had to be "stepped up significantly."

The most serious peace talks in seven years were launched at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November but both sides remain divided on what any statehood agreement should entail.

Olmert has said the goal was an understanding on "basic principles" for a Palestinian state, rather than the full-fledged agreement that Palestinians have been seeking.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said negotiators had made "some progress" on the core issues, which include borders, the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees, as well as Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman for the Fatah Movement Ahmad Abdul Rahman said no progress has been made in ongoing meetings between Palestinian and Israeli officials.

Abdul Rahman added that there is no truth to Israeli media reports about an agreement regarding the drafting of an agreement on the shape of a future Palestinian State.

"These are all speculations and their objective is to cause confusion and to send a message that it is useless to continue the negations," he said.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met in Jerusalem on.

He added that the Palestinian side will persist in their pursuit of negotiations to prove to the international community that Israel is refusing to cooperate and that its actions against the Palestinian people are getting more excessive everyday.

According to Political Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Nimr Hamad, President Abbas will tell Olmert during their meeting in Jerusalem that "things can't continue under the status quo and that the checkpoints that keep on increasing everyday must be removed and the siege must be lifted, in addition to discussing final [status] matters."

Asked what other strategy Palestinians should pursue, should the talks fail, Hamad said, "Everyone must understand that we are not going to be the ones to put obstacles in the way of negotiations. We will turn to the Arabs to decide on a common goal and try to apply pressure on the international community."

He added "many European countries are on our side, especially France and Russia. France already suggested holding a conference called Annapolis III in the event that Russia holds Annapolis II next April."

Hamad, however, refused any discussions of military options or another Intifada in case of a collapse in the negotiation process. He said that these options would only bring more destruction to the Palestinian people.

He said: "Another Intifada like the previous one will only bring more deaths and injuries to the new Palestinian generation of youths. It is a very dangerous option if we consider the imbalance in power between us as Palestinians and a whole world outside. We will not go back to an Intifada that will only bring more destruction."

For her part, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Israel could abandon some of its lands during negotiations with Palestinians.

Speaking at the two-day 5th annual Jerusalem conference, the minister said Israeli politicians who want to abandon negotiations with the Palestinian Authority are unrealistic.

Whoever thinks stopping negotiations will stop terror is not in touch with reality," the Israeli foreign minister said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with a group of U.S. Jewish leaders and warned that no agreement will be possible this year unless talks proceed more quickly.

He said progress in the peace talks will undercut support for Hamas in Gaza. But he said he does not know how long it would take to reach some kind of accommodation on Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the Palestinians had no future under Hamas' rule, vowing to continually struggle against it, local Ha'aretz reported.

"Europe must realize that Hamas is not an organization interested in the establishment of a Palestinian state," Livni said," It is not asking for Palestinian rights, but rather wants to take rights away from others." The foreign minister added that "all the indirect support for Hamas, even if made through discussions on opening border crossings or on the humanitarian situation, only weakens those interested in reaching an agreement."

Livni's comments came after Ran Koriel, Israel's European Union ambassador, warned the Foreign Ministry of a change in EU policy on Hamas due to the Gaza crisis, which even lead to a recognition of Hamas.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad ruled out a peace deal with Israel this year due to the slow progress of negotiations.

"I personally think that reaching a peace treaty in 2008 is impossible because the talks were very slow over the past three months," Fayyad said during a meeting with a delegation from American Jews at his office in Ramallah.

"The negotiations should be sped up to in order to reach the agreement by the end of this year," Fayyad added.

The U.S. administration hosted an international peace conference last November during which the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were resumed following years of suspension.

The building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the Israeli army attacks obstruct the progress of the talks, according to Fayyad. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement said the negotiations have not "achieved anything on the ground."

"Israel is unconvinced that the creation of a Palestinian statehood means the withdrawal from the territories which were occupied in the 1967 war," the spokesman, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, told reporters.

Palestinians express dismay over Israeli obstacles to hamper peace negotiations.

Palestinian president's Political Advisor Nimr Hammad said "I can't understand these statements. Everyday they make new story."

Speaking to Voice of Palestine radio, Head of the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department Saeb Erekat said that Israeli local affairs affect the ongoing negotiations with the Palestinians.

Erekat was referring to the announcement made by the Israeli Shas party, which threatened to withdraw from the government, if the later agreed to discuss the Jerusalem issue with the Palestinians.

Israel “will continue to build in Jerusalem and the larger settlement blocs,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in Jerusalem, adding that the Palestinian side has agreed to postpone talks about Jerusalem to the final stage of negotiations, a claim that was categorically denied by the Chief Palestinian negotiator, Ahmad Qurei.

Palestinian officials angrily denied a claim by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that they had agreed to delay talks on the fate of Jerusalem until the last phase of peace negotiations.

“Jerusalem has a special status and in its Jewish parts the reality on the ground will change in coming years.”

“There is no man amongst my critics who has helped build and develop Jerusalem more than me,” Israeli prime minister, who formerly served as Jerusalem mayor, said.

“It has been agreed and discussed between myself and [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as] Abu Mazen that Jerusalem is an important and sensitive subject. We will not begin negotiations with this sensitive subject, because this could bring about a failure of negotiations. We will postpone talks about Jerusalem to the final stage [of negotiations],” Olmert said.

“The issue of Jerusalem will not be postponed until the end of negotiations,” Qurei was quoted by Israel Radio as saying on.

Qurei said that all “core issues” would be on the table without exception and without giving precedence to any of them.

Qurei had said Israel's plan to build more than 1,000 new apartments for the illegal Jewish settlers in the eastern Jerusalem, which the Israelis occupied in 1967, is a “declaration of war on the peace process.”

“In a time when everybody is hoping for serious work and credible negotiations to reach a comprehensive and lasting peace agreement, the Israeli leaders came with this dangerous declaration which we consider a declaration of war on our people and their national rights and also a declaration of war on the peace process,” Qurei said.

The plan, he said, aimed at “sabotaging and paralyzing any efforts for real work toward real peace in the area.”

The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) named the winners of the tenders to build 307 housing units for the illegal Jewish settlers in the Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa) colonial settlement in eastern Jerusalem.

Five companies won the tenders - Ir David, Dalia Eliasfor, Mei-Tal, Ish Hiram and Shahan - for sums ranging from NIS 17 million to NIS 1.5 million. The ILA is to receive some NIS 42 million for marketing the site, which is to be built on Har Homa's eastern side.

An ILA official told Haaretz that from the moment the winners' names are announced, it would be very hard to stop construction work. The entrepreneurs must sign a development contract with the state within 60 days of the announcement, and then complete the construction within three years, he said.

The call for tenders for 307 housing units last December to be built in Har Homa was criticized by the United States and European Union and denounced by the Palestinians who want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The deposed Hamas government urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stop his "playful" meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"We call on and advise President Abbas to immediately halt these meetings which don't help the Palestinian people," said Taher al-Nounou, spokesman for the government that Abbas fired last June when Hamas took over Gaza Strip by force.

"The meetings take place despite the continuation of the aggression, assassinations and the plans to make Jerusalem Jewish," al-Nounou continued.

Only a permanent political settlement ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory and giving Palestinians their independence "can fundamentally alter the economic and humanitarian problems of the Palestinian people and bring lasting security for Israel," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

In a message delivered on his behalf by Robert Serry, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, to the UN Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, held in Amman, Jordan, Ban said that international law must serve as the basis for any sustainable solution.

But he noted that "the key ingredients for a breakthrough exist," citing the launch by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of bilateral negotiations to resolve all core issues, the "impressive reform and development agenda" of the Palestinian Authority, the support of donors and the efforts of a range of international envoys.

"While I am well aware of the challenges, I believe that with the right mixture of wisdom, realism and political courage – including a major intensification of efforts in the months ahead – we can make historic progress towards the vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," Ban stated in his message.

He said the members of the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East – the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States – were united in their determination that the "harsh realities on the ground" must improve and progress must also be made in the political negotiations.

"The current situation in Gaza is unsustainable in humanitarian, human rights, security and political terms – for the Palestinians, Egypt, and Israel too. The ongoing crisis in Gaza also undermines the Annapolis process," the Secretary-General said, referring to the peace process launched in the US city of that name late last year.

Ban stressed that all the UN humanitarian agencies on the ground would continue with their work to relieve suffering, especially in the Gaza Strip, which has faced tight Israeli restrictions since last month, and to support the Palestinian Authority's development efforts.

Hamas officials met Egyptian security officials for the third time in less than two weeks amid efforts to reopen the border with Gaza, a security source said.

"They are holding discussions in the town of El-Arish in north Sinai with Egyptian officials and then will head back to Gaza," the source said.

The Hamas delegation consists of Ayman Abu Taha and Tareq Abu Hashem, entered via the Rafah crossing which was blown up by militants on January 23, allowing Palestinians to flood into Egypt to stock up on food and supplies.

The border -- Gaza's only gate to the world that bypasses Israel -- was resealed on February 3 by Egyptian forces and Hamas which has controlled the impoverished territory since June 2007.

Israel has increasingly tightened restrictions on Gaza, notably in June 2006 after militants seized an Israeli soldier in a deadly cross-border raid and since Hamas seized control of the territory a year later.

Since the border was resealed there has been disagreement over control of the frontier.

Abbas says a 2005 deal he reached with Israel when his Palestinian Authority still controlled Gaza still stands. Under that agreement, the Rafah crossing was to be overseen by European Union monitors with cameras enabling round-the-clock surveillance by Israel.

For his part, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Abdul Rahman al-Attiya condemned the continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, mainly in the Gaza Strip.

He reiterated the GCC support to the Palestinians, calling them to favor unity.

In Jerusalem, Palestinian chief justice Sheikh Tayseer al-Tamimi called on all Islamic countries to save Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque. He called on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to hold and urgent summit to save Jerusalem from the Judaization attempts.

"Israel lays a network of tunnels under al-Aqsa mosque and houses and any small earthquake will wreck them," al-Tamimi added.

A group of former Israeli army recruits are suing the government for compensation after it allegedly made them unwitting guinea pigs by testing them for nerve gas antidotes, a newspaper reported.

The army claims the testing was carried out by volunteers.

"We were laboratory rats for the army," Avi Yogev, 55, referring to a case dating back to 1971, told Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

"We were guinea pigs for Tsahal (the army) and today we are paying the price.

"They told us we were participating in a secret project," Mr. Yogev said, explaining that the soldiers were told during training that they had to participate or would not be allowed to serve in a combat unit.

"They had us swallow pills. We suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. It was not until years later that we discovered that they had given us medicine against nerve gas after having tested it on animals."

Mr. Yogev said the suit named the army, the defense ministry and the Nes Tsiona biological research institute as defendants.

Yediot said the tests lasted for 11 days, during which the recruits were separated into three groups and placed in isolation at Tel Hashomer base, near Tel Aviv. It said they were given dozens of pills, and the experiment continued despite their vomiting and diarrhea.

The newspaper said the soldiers had since suffered from heart disease, skin ailments, respiratory and liver problems and hypertension.

The army did not deny the facts, nor did it comment on whether it considered the tests to have been appropriate.

An army statement said that a list "detailing the products and medicines given to the volunteers during the tests has been provided to the lawyer representing the plaintiffs".

"The army's medical department has set up a special unit to gather complaints from soldiers who say they participated in these laboratory tests," the statement added, with the department for rehabilitation "examining the case files in order to follow up on them".

In May, the army acknowledged that experiments had also been conducted on Israeli soldiers for a vaccine against anthrax in the late 1990s over fears of a possible Iraqi attack. It said 700 soldiers had volunteered for those tests.

During the 1991 Gulf War, during which Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles on Israel, the authorities distributed gas masks to all citizens as a precaution against attacks with unconventional weapons.