JERUSALEM, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday asked the negotiating teams from both sides to begin drafting a joint statement next week ahead of a U.S.-brokered Mideast peace conference.

    David Baker, spokesman for Prime Minister's Office, told Xinhua that Olmert and Abbas held a one-on-one meeting first and then they met both sides' working teams, instructing them to begin formulating a joint statement for the upcoming peace conference scheduled to take place in Maryland, the United States, in November.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem October 3, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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    "The joint statement mainly concerns Israeli and Palestinian understanding on the issues to be working on," said Baker, denying that it will spell out solutions to the fundamental issues such as borders, Jerusalem and refugees.

    He disclosed that the two leaders only discussed about them in general terms during their two-and-a-half-hour meeting.

    Meanwhile, Baker said, "The working teams will hold intensive meetings as often as they have to," adding that "Olmert and Abbas will continue to meet by themselves twice a month."

    Despite the progress, Israel and the Palestinians still differ with each other as to what they should agree on before November. Abbas expects a detailed framework agreement that would address the above-mentioned core issues while Olmert wants a broad-brush principle for peace talks.

    Analysts see that it is very difficult for both sides to bridge the gap during the brief period prior to November meeting.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Jerusalem October 3, 2007.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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    A senior source in Israeli Prime Minister's Office was quoted by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying that "both sides understand that the timetable is such that it does not allow for reaching a permanent agreement or even an in-depth discussion of all the issues at hand."

    The source noted that "The joint statement will be general enough so as not to derail, and on the other hand will push the parties to continue the process," the source added.

    Though the latest round of Olmert-Abbas meeting failed to harvest any agreement on the content of a joint declaration, it was considered as the start of the official negotiating process between the two sides towards formulating a Palestinian-Israeli declaration of principles.

    Baker said Olmert-Abbas meeting, the sixth one in several months, was conducted in very "positive and constructive atmosphere."

    The Israeli working team included Olmert's chief of staff Yoram Turbowitz, his diplomatic advisor Shalom Turgeman and Foreign Ministry Aharon Abramovich. The Palestinian team included Fatah members and advisors Ahmed Qureia, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Saeb Erekat.

    Meanwhile, according to a Ha'aretz report, Olmert and Abbas agreed to begin negotiations over a final status agreement after the Mideast peace conference in November. The Prime Minister's Office, however, said that it was too early to speak of the final status agreement.

    As for the reports claiming that Abbas agreed "in principle" to renew mediation between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying Israel's stance regarding Hamas was "known and unequivocal."

    The statement further emphasized that the government rejected any attempts by the PNA to negotiate with Hamas, adding that all Israeli officials traveling abroad were instructed to ask their foreign counterparts to step up pressure on Abbas against his making any effort to bridge the gap with Hamas, a Jerusalem Post report said.

    "The Palestinians are familiar with Israel's position on the matter ... it might bring the whole process to a halt. The Palestinians don't seem to want that," the statement underlined.

    In mid June, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip after routing forces loyal to Abbas, prompting the moderate Palestinian leader to sack the short-lived Hamas-led government and appointed a new one in the West Bank city Ramallah.

    Following Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Israel adopted several measures to bolster Abbas who has been locked in fierce power struggle with the Islamic movement, including freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Fatah and other factions.

    Abbas has repeatedly rejected Hamas' earlier calls for dialogues unless the Islamic movement retreated "the coup against the Palestinian legitimacy."

    Hamas' takeover also brought about the collapse of the Palestinian national dialogue between Fatah and Hamas after Abbas announced severing all contacts with Hamas.