Israeli and Palestinian leaders were set to meet in the presence of their negotiating teams for the first time to try to thrash out an agreement on core issues of the Middle East conflict ahead of a US-sponsored peace summit.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas were to join their newly formed teams after holding their fourth round of talks in less than two months. Olmert and Abbas decided to form the negotiating teams at their last meeting in September. The contentious issue is the kind of document to draw up, as the Palestinians want a detailed agreement on core issues, while the Israelis favour a looser framework.