Israeli and Palestinian leaders began direct peace negotiations on Thursday, sitting down for US-brokered talks even as hardliners on both sides vowed never to accept a deal.
A day after US President Barack Obama made a personal appeal for peace, secretary of state Hillary Clinton welcomed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to the state department to begin talks aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state. “This will not be easy,” Mr Netanyahu said as talks began. “A true peace, a lasting peace, (would) be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides.”
Mr Abbas called on Israel to end settlement activity and stop the blockade of the Gaza Strip. The direct peace talks, which Mr Obama hopes can reach a deal within a year, come after a 20-month hiatus.
“By being here today, you each have taken an important step toward freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change and moving toward a future of peace and dignity that only you can create,” Ms Clinton said.
Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Mr Abbas’ Fatah in 2007, denounced talks and said it would keep on attacking Israelis.