Israel’s Plan to Vacate Gaza Settlements Could Prod Talks. The United States and Israel are discussing a fresh approach to Mideast peace in which the Bush administration would embrace Israel’s proposal to give up settlements in Gaza as a way of encouraging Palestinians and Arab states to take their own steps toward peace, senior U.S. and Israeli officials said. The plan would represent an acknowledgment that productive talks between Israel and the Palestinian leaders are not possible at this moment, and that unilateral steps proposed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on the settlements could provide an interim step that presents the best hope of progress toward ultimate success. Elements of the plan include Israel’s vacating possibly all of Gaza and as many as 17 West Bank settlements, giving Egypt responsibility for security on the Gaza border and moving a planned fence separating Israelis and Palestinians closer to Israel’s 1967 borders. Full Story
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