Middle East quartet to meet after failed Palestinian UN bid

Envoys from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia will meet later this month to discuss the next steps to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, officials said Thursday.
The gathering of the Middle East diplomatic quartet will take place January 26 in Brussels to discuss ways of reviving the peace process after the Palestinians failed to win UN Security Council approval of a resolution on ending the Israeli occupation.
"The Quartet envoys will meet at the end of this month to discuss the way ahead," US Ambassador Samantha Power told the Security Council.
The 15-member council last month rejected a resolution on Palestinian statehood that set a 2017 deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories.
The United States and Australia voted against, but China, France and Russia were among eight countries that backed the resolution, leaving it just one vote short of the nine required for adoption.
Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo decided to make another attempt to win approval for a UN resolution on ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
Source: AFP