By IANS,
Jerusalem: Israeli and Palestinian delegates met here Wednesday evening for a second round of direct talks aimed at achieving a peace agreement, Xinhua reported.
The Jerusalem meeting, held two weeks after the talks commenced in Washington after a three-year halt, is the first to take place on Israeli soil in five years.
It was held under secrecy, without giving prior knowledge to the media about the time and place it would take place, and no photo opportunity was given.
The meeting was attended by chief negotiator and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, prime minister’s special envoy Yitzhak Molcho on the Israeli side, and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Fatah official Mohammed Shatyeh on the Palestinian side.
The discussions in the meeting regarded general guidelines for the process of the negotiations and what will be the subjects to be negotiated.
The main topics on the agenda are the Palestinian demand to hold the talks on the basis of the 1967 lines as the borders of the future Palestinian state, as well as stopping construction of settlements, releasing Palestinian prisoners, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
The talks were held less than 24 hours after Israel’s release of 26 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as a part of a good will gesture for the Palestinians amid the renewal of the talks.
However, the talks are overshadowed by the Palestinians and the US’ resentment toward several announcements made by Israel in the past week, according to which it plans to build more than 1,500 housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem settlements.