Mitchell returns to Middle East amid “Israeli”-Palestinian tension

Source: Hizbollah Site Staff, 09-10-2009

George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, has begun his latest official trip to Al Quds (Jerusalem), aiming to restart "Israeli"-Palestinian peace talks at a time of heightened tensions.
Mitchell is to meet the Ehud Barak, the "Israeli" defense minister, on Thursday.

He is also expected to meet Binyamin Netanyahu, the "Israeli" prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on Friday.

But analysts say there is little momentum for progress despite Barack Obama, the US president, saying he hoped for significant development by mid-October.

"It would be very surprising if there would be any significant progress. I suspect he is here mainly to try calm things down," Mark Heller of Tel Aviv University said.

His visit comes days after "Israel" deployed thousands of police and soldiers into occupied East AL Quds (Jerusalem) following clashes between Palestinians and "Israeli" settler activists around Al Aqsa mosque compound.

On his last visit to the region, Mitchell got Netanyahu and Abbas to agree to a three-way summit with Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.