Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday in Jerusalem against the backdrop of Gaza-Egypt border breaching.
Olmert hosted the meeting at his official Jerusalem residence Monday afternoon, which was the first of its kind since U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the region earlier this month.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and head of the Palestinian negotiating team Ahmed Qurei are also attending the meeting.
The four are expected to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and issues retaining to the Gaza-Egypt border, as well as the core issues. Both sides defined the meeting "a part of the ongoing Annapolis understandings."
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 to remove checkpoints.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flocked into Egypt on Wednesday to stock up on food and fuel in short supply 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 Gaza.
Abbas said on Saturday that the PNA has a plan for assuming responsibility for the border crossings between Gaza and Egypt, adding that this could alleviate the hardships caused by the closure of the territory.
However, Israeli officials have said that Olmert has so far rejected the idea, and Hamas has said it will prevent such a move unless it has a say in any future agreements regarding the border crossings.
Source: Xinhua
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