The Mideast Quartet -- four international entities seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians -- expressed deep concern Friday over Israeli settlement in the West Bank and Palestinian militants' rocket attacks on Israeli towns. But the Quartet also offered a silver lining, saying it believes an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians for a Palestinian state can be forged by the end of the year."It is hard work, it is labor-intensive and it is time consuming, but I believe they do have a chance to get an agreement by the end of the year, but that is what we are going to work for every day," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
The Quartet, started six years ago in Madrid, consists of the United Nations, the United States, Russia, and the European Union. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the the Quartet envoy.
U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon summarized the Quartet's latest positions about the state of Israeli and Palestinian development at a news conference.
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