"There are public meetings and there are secret ones," the PA official
explained. "The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks,
particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is
prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in
Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to redivide Jerusalem and this is a positive
development."

'Rice to return to revive peace talks'
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 10, 2008
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to return to the region
soon in yet another attempt to prevent the collapse of peace talks between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a senior PA official in Ramallah has
told The Jerusalem Post.

The official said the PA was seeking greater US involvement in the current
negotiations with Israel, especially with regards to those that are being
conducted secretly.

"The negotiations are moving too slowly," he said. "There are still too many
difficulties, although one can say that some progress has been achieved." He
said Rice was due to visit Israel and Ramallah before the end of the month.

According to the official, the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former
PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding secret talks with Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni and other government officials in the past few weeks.

"There are public meetings and there are secret ones," the PA official
explained. "The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks,
particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is
prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in
Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to redivide Jerusalem and this is a positive
development."

The PA is worried that a massive Israeli military operation in the Gaza
Strip would sabotage the negotiations and has appealed to the US to
intervene with Israel on this matter, another PA official said.

He expressed fear that such an operation would boost Hamas's standing and
turn the Palestinian public against the PA leadership in Ramallah.

"Hamas wants to be in the position of the victim," the official noted. "They
want to drag Israel into the Gaza Strip so that they can score points on the
Arab and Islamic street. An Israeli invasion will serve their interests."

The official said the US administration had promised to pressure Israel to
refrain from carrying out a massive attack in the Gaza Strip. He said the PA
believed that Israel's policy of "collective punishment" also served Hamas's
interests because it drove more Palestinians into their open arms.

"When you deprive a Palestinian from gas and electricity, he will hate
Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and not Hamas," he added.

Assistant US Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welsh, who
met on Saturday separately with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Qurei,
reiterated Washington's commitment to advancing the peace process.

Abbas briefed the US official on his latest initiative for a cease-fire
between the Palestinians and Israel. He also reiterated his readiness to
assume control over the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and
Egypt.

Qurei briefed Welsh on the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
He urged Washington to exert pressure on Israel to fulfill its commitments
in line with the first phase of the road map.

These commitments, he added, included a cessation of settlement
construction, an IDF withdrawal to pre-September 28, 2000 positions,
reopening all closed PLO institutions in Jerusalem, the removal of illegal
outposts and IDF checkpoints and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Qurei said he was convinced that an agreement could be reached with Israel
before the end of this year "provided that there were good intentions and
that the
international community was actively involved in pushing the peace process
forward."