The Israeli and Palestinians leaders will discuss Israeli settlements and roadblocks in the West Bank at a summit Monday, a Palestinian official said, two issues given prominent mention by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her latest diplomatic mission in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were to meet at Olmert's Jerusalem residence on Monday afternoon, only hours after Rice's departure, for the latest in a series of sessions meant to push forward peace talks. With U.S. backing, the two men have set a year-end target for reaching a final peace deal to end 60 years of conflict, the Associated Press reported. On Sunday, Rice made unusually direct remarks about the consequences of Israeli construction and roadblocks in the West Bank, saying she «continues to raise with the Israelis the importance of creating an atmosphere that is conducive to negotiations.» «That means doing nothing, certainly, that would suggest that there is any prejudicing of the final terms» of a deal setting up a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank, Rice said. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday's talks would include a broad look at how the negotiations are proceeding. He also said Abbas would urge the Israelis to curb settlement activity and lift many of the military checkpoints they have erected throughout the West Bank. Abbas has sounded increasingly pessimistic in recent weeks. He says continued settlement construction on lands the Palestinians claim, and Israel's refusal to remove roadblocks and ease other travel restrictions are undermining the negotiations.
