By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have started talks in Jerusalem Sunday afternoon, days after Palestinians breached the Gaza-Egypt border.
The meeting, hosted by Olmert at his official Jerusalem residence, is the first after US President George W. Bush’s visit to the region earlier this month.
The leaders are expected to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and issues related to the Gaza-Egypt border, as well as the core issues.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and head of the Palestinian negotiating team Ahmed Qurei are also attending the meeting.
Abbas is expected to ask Olmert to consider transferring control of the Gaza Strip border crossings to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in order to end the crisis in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. He will also ask Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank and remove checkpoints.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flocked into Egypt Wednesday to stock up on food and fuel after the Gaza-Egypt border fence was partially destroyed by Gaza militants.
In a bid to curb cross-border rocket fire into southern regions, Israel completely closed its border crossings with Gaza, which caused humanitarian concerns in coastal land.