Means to push forward the Middle East peace process between the Palestinians and Israel, as well as Egypt's role within the negotiation stages, were discussed in a meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in the Sinai resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh Wednesday. Their talks also focused on the release of an Israeli soldier seized by the Palestinain movement Hamas more than three years ago, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) has reported. It added that Mubarak has urged Israeli authorities to end the blockade on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and halt the establishment of more settlements being built in the occupied lands. The talks between Mubarak and the Israeli official followed a trip made by the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to the region last week. Egypt has for months been brokering efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. It has also sought to reconcile rival Palestinian factions; Hamas, who control the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which controls the Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank. Barak, the head of Israel's Labour Party, has said a failure to come to a peace deal based on a two-state solution posed a greater threat to Israel than an 'Iranian bomb.' "Any other situation is the most serious threat to Israel's future," Barak stated on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said yesterday that had asked the United States to give Abbas guarantees that it supported a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, and that East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after the 1967 war, be recognised as the Palestinian capital.
