Quartet meeting urges Israel and Palestine to fulfil obligations for peace
The Quartet of the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union today called on both Palestinians and Israelis to fulfil their obligations to achieve peace in a statement issued following their meeting in New York.
"The Quartet reiterated its previous call for all Palestinians to commit themselves to nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations," the statement said.
The Quartet also "expressed deep concern about increasing settlement activity, which has a damaging impact on the negotiating environment and is an impediment to economic recovery, and called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001," the statement said.
They also called Hamas to free abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by militants in a 2006 cross-border raid.
Speaking after the meeting, Tony Blair said: "In the last year, the challenges are very obvious, but there has been progress.
"We have a political negotiation that is underway where the parties are talking and talking about the real issues, and that's the first time this has happened for a long time. Secondly, we have major security sector change on the part of the Palestinians that is being supported by the international community. When you go to Jenin, go to Nablus and talk to the people there, the Palestinian security forces are making a difference.
"And thirdly, after years of contraction on the West Bank... there are things that are happening. Not just small-scale projects and the larger-scale projects being agreed in the industrial parks, but a new platform for housing with support from the international community, the new mobile telephony license agreement that is being done.
"We have the possibility now of substantial change around the politics, on the security, and on getting the right changes on the West Bank to the economy there, which will allow us some hope for the future.
"Now there's a massive amount still to do. Nobody's under any illusion about that at all.
"But there is, for the first time, an agreed strategy around politics, the security situation, and how we lift the pressure of occupation that gives us a genuine platform for the future."