Palestinian-Israeli Security Talks Fail to Yield FruitThe Palestinians and Israel held a round of security talks on Sunday, but failed to reach breakthrough in lifting Israeli closure on the Palestinian territories.The talks, held in the West Bank town of Beit-El, has been expected to result in lifting of the closure, halt of Israeli aggression against Palestinians, and withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territories, Palestinian senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said. But the meeting failed to achieve any results due to Israeli continued attacks against the Palestinians, Erekat said. The Palestinian side presented Israel with a list of 87 attacks against Palestinians since January 17, such as "shooting, shelling, cutting down trees, curfews and closing roads," he added. Meanwhile, Israel regarded the insurance of safety to Israelis as the basis for the halting of the closure, according to an unidentified source close to the Israeli delegation. Earlier Sunday, a senior Israeli official said there had been a "notable reduction" in the level of violence between the two sides. But later in the day, a Palestinian teenager, 15, was killed by the Israeli army in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security forces said, bringing the death toll to nearly 380 since the eruption of Palestinian-Israeli bloodshed clashed nearly four months ago, most of them Palestinians. The 90-minute Palestinian-Israeli security talks came hours prior to marathon peace negotiations scheduled between the two sides in Egypt's Sinai resort of Taba, aimed at reaching a final peace deal. |
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