General

Mideast Quartet demands peace

Wants Israeli settlers out of Palestine

Top diplomats from Russia, the United States, United Nations and European Union issued a formal statement from Moscow Friday demanding that Israel and Palestine restart peace talks and work to create an independent Palestinian state within two years. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon read the strongly-worded statement, which also criticized Israeli settlement building. The statement came as Israel launched air strikes in response to a rocket attack by militants in Gaza and follows the postponement of indirect talks scheduled to begin this week that stalled when Israel announced plans for new settlements in disputed east Jerusalem. The Quartet, represented by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and special representative, former British prime minister Tony Blair, met primarily over concerns for the unstable condition and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

CBC News

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