Mitchell due for talks with Netanyahu, Abbas
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WASHINGTON- US envoy George Mitchell is due to arrive Monday in Tel Aviv for talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders aimed at reviving direct peace negotiations.
"Senator George Mitchell is arriving in Tel Aviv kind of as we speak," a State Department spokesman told reporters at the daily State Department briefing.
Mitchell is due to return to Washington on Wednesday.
The Palestinians and Israelis have, since May, been holding indirect "proximity" talks but they have not held direct negotiations since Israel launched a military offensive against Hamas militants in December 2008, which left some 1, 400 Palestinians dead.
Abbas has conditioned the resumption of direct negotiations on a complete Israeli halt to settlement building in the Palestinian West Bank.
But US officials say they are encouraged that Arab nations agreed to "green light" direct talks when they met in Cairo late last month.
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