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The Palestinians declared on Sunday the start of indirect talks with Israel mediated by the United States, the first Middle East peace negotiations in 18 months.Echoing a call by Washington for a future move to direct negotiations -- and reflecting low public expectations for progress -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said peace would be impossible to achieve without face-to-face contacts."I can officially declare today that the proximity talks have begun," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said after a meeting between U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Mitchell, who will mediate the talks, proposed the indirect format as a way to break an impasse over Jewish settlement construction on Israeli-occupied land where the Palestinians aim to establish a state alongside Israel.The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on Saturday approved the indirect negotiations, the first peace talks in a year-and-a-half, giving a boost to U.S. diplomacy.Netanyahu said the talks would begin "without preconditions", an indirect reference to his public refusal to bow to U.S. and Palestinian demands to curb construction of homes for Jews in and near East Jerusalem, restrictions that could tear apart his pro-settler government.But no new Israeli housing projects in East Jerusalem have been approved since March, raising speculation that Netanyahu has imposed a de facto moratorium.DIRECT TALKSAddressing his cabinet, Netanyahu said in public remarks: "The proximity talks must bring about direct talks soon. Peace cannot be brought about from a distance, or with a remote control."The initiative was going ahead after U.S. plans for indirect talks were stymied in March, when Israel announced it would build new settler homes in and around East Jerusalem, part of the territory claimed by the Palestinians.The Palestinian leadership has demanded a freeze on such projects.In his remarks to the cabinet on talks with the Palestinians, Netanyahu said no one should expect that "we will arrive at decisions and agreements on matters that are critical ... without sitting together in the same room."Mitchell planned to return home later on Sunday and Israeli government sources said he would be back in the Middle East in about 10 days.(Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Ramallah and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Writing by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Editing by Myra MacDonald)
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