The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators sought on Sunday to keep alive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks although political uncertainty in Israel has scotched hopes for a deal this year. The European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States strongly backed the talks launched at Annapolis, Maryland, nearly a year ago by U.S. President George W. Bush, despite expectations he will fail to meet his year-end target. The Quartet also called for a halt to Jewish settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land, one of the thorniest issues in the peace talks, and for the dismantling of "terrorist infrastructure."
The Quartet also called for a halt to Jewish settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land, one of the thorniest issues in the peace talks, and for the dismantling of "terrorist infrastructure."
"The Quartet called for the continuing of the peace process in the framework of Annapolis," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said after a meeting of the Quartet in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He was referring to the U.S. city where negotiations were revived in November 2007 after a near seven-year hiatus, with both sides committing to reaching a long-elusive deal by the end of this year.