By Xinhua
Gaza : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet in the West Bank city of Jericho Thursday, an official at Abbas' office said Tuesday.
The official, who asked not to be named, added that it would be the first time for Palestinian and Israeli leaders to meet at a Palestinian town in years.
Abbas and Olmert have held several meetings in Jerusalem without achieving tangible progress, especially those that involved Israeli promises to reduce the number of checkpoints in the West Bank.
They will also talk about the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in the Gaza Strip since last June, and the failure to stop Palestinian rocket attacks into southern Israel's territories.
Yasser Abed Rabou, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, however, warned that Abbas-Olmert meetings "are waste of time if they don't lead to actual results".
Abed Rabou said the daily schedule of the Israeli government was to expand settlements and kill more Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.