The U.S.-led Quartet of Mideast mediators is working on a new strategy for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and is expected to present it in five to six weeks, said Quartet envoy Tony Blair, AP reported.
The plan is being devised by the Obama administration, with input from others, Blair told Palestinian reporters.
"We're about to get a new framework," Blair said Tuesday evening, adding that he did not know the details. "The reason I say people should be more hopeful, is that this is a framework that is being worked on at the highest level in the American administration, (and) in the rest of the international community."
The Obama administration has promised to work for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It has portrayed a two-state solution as the only way to solve the Mideast conflict and defined it as a U.S. national interest.
President Barack Obama is holding separate meetings at the White House this month with the Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to hear their views.
Once those meetings are over, the Quartet is to convene in Washington to discuss and present the new strategy, Blair said. The Quartet includes the U.S., the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. "I think that within the next five to six weeks, you will have a very clear picture of what the plan is," Blair said.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ended without tangible results last year. Israel's new hardline leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has yet to commit to a two-state solution, and supports the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in areas the Palestinians seek for their state.
The Palestinians are plagued by crippling internal division, with Gaza run by Hamas militants and the West Bank by U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Repeated efforts to forge a Palestinian unity deal, seen as a prerequisite for meaningful peace talks, have failed.
Blair said the international community is working on a new approach.
"The key thing for the next few weeks is to get an agreed strategy and then the key thing for the next few months is to implement it in a way that is credible for people," he said.
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