A high-profile Middle East direct peace talks that were revived after nearly two years in Washington on Thursday decided to hold regular follow-up meetings every two weeks.
A trilateral meeting attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to begin working on a framework agreement for permanent status.
The purpose of a framework agreement is to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The parties agreed that in their actions and statements they will work to create an atmosphere of trust that will be conducive to reaching a final agreement.
U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell said both sides agreed to meet again on September 14 and 15 in the Middle East and roughly every other fortnight thereafter, involving the United States.
He added that Abbas and Netanyahu expressed their intention to approach the negotiations in good faith and with a seriousness of purpose. They also agreed that for these negotiations to succeed, they must be kept private and treated with the utmost sensitivity.
They held a separate meeting for a direct discussion, which Mitchell described as "constructive."
As the host who did the hard groundwork to resume the stalled talks for the last 20 months, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the Obama administration's stand clear by saying that the U.S. "will be an active and sustained partner" in the talks, but that it would not impose a solution.
Opening the negotiations at at the Department of State, Clinton called upon leaders of both sides to capitalize "the opportunity to end this conflict and the decades of enmity between your peoples once and for all."
"The core issues at the center of these negotiations - territory, security, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and others - will get no easier if we wait, nor will they resolve themselves," she added.
Netanyahu acknowledged that "True peace, a lasting peace, will be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides."
Citing a one-year deadline U.S. President Barack Obama gave the Palestinians and Israelis to successfully end the talks, Abbas called on the Israeli government "to move forward with its commitment to end all settlement activities and completely lift the embargo over the Gaza Strip."
Netanyahu wanted in return a guarantee on the "security of Israel" the Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Gunmen from the Gaza-based militant group Hamas shot dead four Israelis in the West Bank town of Hebron hours before the re-launch of direct talks.
Reports say no significant breakthrough is expected in the current talks, unless the Israeli government agrees some concessions on its rigid stand on a number of sensitive issues.
The U.S.-led initiatives to revive Middle East Peace talks have been stymied by Israel's defiance of international calls to stop settlement activities in Jerusalem.
Abbas has been demanding guarantees on borders and a freeze on all settlement activities as pre-conditions to resume talks.
Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat warned last month that the talks would collapse if Israel resumed construction in West Bank settlements after the 10-month building freeze ends on September 26.
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December 12, 2025 15:14 ET Central bank decisions dominated the economic news flow this week led by the Federal Reserve. Trade data from the U.S. also gained attention. The Canadian and Swiss central banks also announced their interest rate decisions. Inflation data from China was in focus as the country released the latest consumer price and producer price data.