President Barack Obama has invited the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian territories to the White House for consultations over the next six weeks, officials said.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said invitations have gone out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in hopes that they can restart the peace efforts that sputtered to a halt at the end of the Bush administration.
Obama said that while there is a “profound skepticism” in the Mideast on whether progress is possible, he would like Israelis, Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries to make their first gestures to each other within months.
“My hope would be that over the next several months that you start seeing gestures of good faith on all sides,” Obama told reporters after a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
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One key point for Middle East discussion is likely to be the Gaza Strip, and on Tuesday the UN Environment Program said that conditions in the Palestinian enclave have been growing worse since Israel’s war on Hamas ended in January as basic repairs are stalled by Israel’s blockade.
The agency said it will send experts to Gaza for a 10-day mission, starting May 11, to assess how the war has harmed the environment.
Separately, Britain said it will review all weapons exports to Israel, citing Israel’s Gaza campaign. The move comes amid pressure from British lawmakers who had demanded that the government ensure British weapon parts were not used against Palestinians.
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