U.S. pushes for Israeli-Palestinian discussions

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it would make a new push for Israeli-Palestinian talks and U.S. envoy George Mitchell, en route to the region, hoped to lay the groundwork.

"The president has told me to exert all efforts to create the circumstance when the parties can begin immediate discussions," Mitchell told reporters at a Palestinian donors' conference in Oslo, referring to renewed negotiations that President Barack Obama has pledged to pursue.

In the Gaza Strip, militants opposed to a dialogue tried to blast open Israel's border fence.

Israeli forces killed three Palestinian militants who had planned to breach the border fence with the Hamas-run territory by detonating explosives they had tied to five horses, a military spokesman said.

Middle East envoy Tony Blair said after the Oslo meeting that Obama's push for a peace deal should be embraced by Arab states.

"For the Arab countries in particular we need their support...," Blair said. "We need their support for the Palestinian Authority, their support for the peace process, their support in coming to a new ... understanding about how we can establish peace in the Middle East.

"President Obama needs something to come back to him. He's reaching out but he needs people to reach back and I think the next few months is all about seeing whether we can create the circumstances where that happens," he told Reuters.

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