EU's Ashton to visit region in bid to restart talks

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will travel to Israel and the occupied territories on Tuesday for a three-day visit aimed at restarting peace talks which have stalled since 2010. The trip follows four rounds of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in the Jordanian capital, brokered by the Quartet of Middle East negotiators -- Russia, the US, EU and United Nations. "I will continue to make every effort to push the peace talks and encourage the parties in the path towards a negotiated solution," Ashton said in a statement Monday. "The fact that negotiators are talking to each other face-to-face is encouraging, and I'd like to express my thanks to the King of Jordan for his initiative, closely linked to the efforts by the Quartet. "I'll be looking for positive signs from both sides that they are prepared to turn this progress into real gestures and negotiations. Time is of the essence." The Quartet set a Jan. 26 deadline for both sides to submit proposals on borders and security in an effort to kickstart substantive negotiations. Ashton said on Monday that "developments in the region make peace in the Middle East even more urgent and necessary." A Palestinian lawmaker, meanwhile, called on European countries to employ concrete mechanisms that hold Israel accountable for violating international law and placing impediments to peace. "Recent EU reports and the facts speak for themselves. Israel’s hard-line government continues to adopt extreme positions designed to rapidly erode any prospects for peace," Hanan Ashrawi said. Ashrawi said these policies include continued construction of settlements, Israel’s annexation and "ethnic cleansing" of Jerusalem, the demolition of Palestinian homes, and the displacement of Palestinians and seizing resources. "These constitute a deliberate attempt by Israel to ensure that the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state becomes unrealistic. Such measures prove that Israel is responsible for the failure of negotiations," she said. Palestinian officials insist they cannot enter negotiations with Israel while it continues to build Jewish-only settlements on lands needed for a viable Palestinian state. Ashrawi said the EU must ensure accountability for Israeli policies. "There must be a qualitative shift in the way Europe approaches the challenges of pursuing peace by guaranteeing that the basic rights and needs of the Palestinian people are respected and safeguarded and that Israel is held accountable for all of its violations of international law and conventions," the statement said. In Brussels, meanwhile, the Council of the European Union adopted a resolution reaffirming its support for the Palestinian Authority's state-building efforts. "The viability of the two state solution must be preserved," the resolution said. "The EU will continue to reinforce efforts towards resolving the conflict through its contribution to the Quartet, its continued partnership with Israel, and its support for the Palestinian Authority's state-building efforts." The resolution also stated that the "legitimacy of the State of Israel and the right of Palestinians to achieve statehood must never be called into question."