The Middle East Quartet of international mediators has called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity in East Jerusalem, saying it will "use all powers" to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the Quartet's special representative Tony Blair met for the talks in Moscow on Friday.
Lavrov said the Quartet would seek to resume Middle East peace efforts, which stalled last week after Israel announced that it had given the go-ahead to the building of 1,600 housing units for Jewish families in the disputed area of East Jerusalem.
"The members of the Quartet have agreed that we will use every available opportunity to encourage the Israelis and Palestinians to resume indirect talks. We think that the announcement that we have made today states very clearly the assessment of the situation and paves the way first towards the start of indirect talks, and then to direct talks," Lavrov said.
Ban and Clinton condemned the Israeli housing plans and demanded that all settlement activity be halted.
"The Quartet urges the government of Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth, dismantle outposts erected since March 2001 and to refrain from demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem," Ban said.
"We all condemn the (settlement) announcement and we are all expecting both parties to move toward the proximity talks," Clinton added.
Ban also said that a new peace agreement between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities should be reached within 24 months.
"Recalling that the annexation of East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community, the Quartet underscores that the status of Jerusalem is a permanent status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties, and condemns the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," he added.
The Quartet also approved the idea that Moscow may host an international conference on the Middle East peace efforts.
On Wednesday, chief Palestinian presidential advisor Sahib Oreikat pulled out of the Qaurtet meeting, because of the "deterioration in the situation in the Palestinian territories." The announcement followed an earlier statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that Israel would on no account suspend building in East Jerusalem.
Netanyahu plans to visit Washington next week for talks with Clinton.
The housing dispute has caused an upsurge of violence in the Middle East. Earlier on Friday, an Israeli aircraft bombed six targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a Palestinian rocket attack which killed a Thai agricultural worker in southern Israel on Thursday.
Settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, has been the main obstacle to reviving peace talks.
Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement construction activity and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001 from Palestinian territories.
MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti)
