British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he will host talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders later this month.
Speaking
in London Wednesday, Mr. Brown said the talks will focus on how to make
real progress on economic and political issues in the next year.
Officials close to the prime minister said he would meet separately
with the Palestinian and Israeli delegations.
Mideast peace
talks launched last year by U.S. President George Bush have stalled as
a fragile cease-fire between Palestinian and Israeli forces erodes and
political upheaval on both sides creates uncertainty.
Tensions
are still high in the West Bank Wednesday as Israeli security officials
sent hundreds of riot police to Hebron, where the illegal occupation of
a house by Jewish settlers has led to fighting.
Officials say
soldiers will be replaced by the border police, who will help patrol
parts of the city that were declared closed military zones today.
Police
are prohibiting non-residents from entering Palestinian areas of Hebron
and have set up road blocks and guards on the roof top of the contested
house. Settlers have illegally occupied the house since last year.
Both
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres condemned
Tuesday's attacks by settlers against security forces and Palestinians,
insisting the house would be evacuated according to law.
Elsewhere
in Israel, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem was seriously
wounded in a stabbing attack he says was committed by a group of Jews.
Also
Wednesday, Libya requested emergency U.N. Security Council
consultations about an aid ship it sent to help the blockaded citizens
of Gaza but was turned back by Israeli forces.
Israel has
tightened its borders with the Palestinian territory in response to
rocket fire from Gaza hitting Israel. U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon and relief groups have called on Israel to lift the blockade.
Israeli
army radio reports that Palestinian militants have fired eight more
mortar rounds today into Israel territory. The rounds landed in the
western Negev desert. There were no reports of injuries
And
police in Hamas-controlled Gaza today freed three Palestinian
journalists accused of writing false stories about the Palestinian
territory. The three work for groups with ties to Hamas rival Fatah.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
