After much mulling, pressure from all sides and criticism from many, direct talks between Palestinians and Israel were officially launched on September 2 in Washington. According to the parties, the framework for talks was laid down during the four days of meetings including the discussion of final status issues such as borders, settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, water and security, with a timeframe of 12 months. After regional meetings between the parties, all will congregate in Sharm Al Sheikh in the Sinai for a summit on September 14.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has been an active supporter of direct talks for months, said on September 3 that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were an urgent necessity, warning that these could be the "last chance for a very long time to reach an agreement."

In a joint interview with Israeli and Palestinian television broadcasters on September 3 Clinton injected Iran into the equation of a Middle East peace agreement, saying the "rise of Iranian-backed extremist ideology" is a major reason why time is short.

"The administration believes that a successful Middle East peace deal would limit Iran's ability to use Mideast tensions to justify its behavior. I think that time is not on the side of either Israeli or Palestinian aspirations for security, peace and a state," she said.

However, Clinton did not address one of the major contentions between Palestinians and Israel, which is the settlement freeze, rather saying the way forward must be handled by the parties themselves. She did however, reportedly call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the settlement freeze, which is scheduled to end on September 26, until the end of the year to give the peace talks a chance. According to the Hebrew daily Ma'ariv, Clinton made her request to Netanyahu a day before the launching of the talks during a private meeting.

While news reports first circulated about an upcoming meeting between the parties on September 6 in Jericho, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denied any such meeting, which was first reported by negotiator Nabil Shaath.

Meanwhile, Arab League Chief Amr Moussa said on September 3 that he believed this latest round of negotiations would be the last. Moussa made his statement during a news conference in Italy, saying the Arabs were ready for peace with Israel in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967, including east Jerusalem.

The start of the talks came with much fanfare, with lengthy opening remarks made by US President Barack Obama on September 1. The president reiterated the US stance of supporting a two state solution negotiated by the parties themselves that would "ensure the rights and security of both Israelis and Palestinians." He added that the goal is a settlement that "ends the occupation which began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security with a Jewish state of Israel and its other neighbors."

Two days earlier, President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the nation in a televised speech outlining the goal of the negotiations about to be embarked on. Abbas, after justifying a return to direct talks also warned Israel not to sabotage their peace efforts. "The Israeli government holds full responsibility for the failure and the collapse of these negotiations if it continues settlement expansion in all the occupied Palestinian territories," he said.

Not all of the Palestinians are convinced, however. On August 30, a demonstration organized by the opposition against going to direct talks and scheduled to be held in Ramallah was banned by PA security forces. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad later apologized for the crackdown saying it as a "major mistake" to prevent the conference. "I am confident that this will never happen again."

The launching of the talks did not come without violence on the ground however. On August 31, four Israeli settlers from the Hebron-area settlement of Kiryat Arba were shot and killed by Palestinian gunmen. A day later, two more settlers were injured at the Romodin Junction near Ramallah in a similar attack. Hamas' military wing Izzedin Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the two attacks saying they were "evidence of the option of resistance," namely in the face of security coordination between Israel and the PA.

The timing of the attacks was hardly a coincidence, a day before the first session of direct talks were to start in Washington. Of course, Obama also commented on the settler deaths, calling them a "senseless slaughter" that would not derail the talks. "The message should go out to Hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us."

Following the two shooting attacks, Palestinian security forces are said to have rounded up over 300 people affiliated with Hamas, which in turn vowed to step up such attacks as long as peace talks continue. According to Hizbullah leader Hasan Nasrallah, the attacks were "the way to free Jerusalem and Palestine", adding that the negotiations were "born to die."

Right wing Israelis also do not seem too happy with the launch of direct negotiations. On September 1, right wingers began building units and structures throughout areas in the West Bank, one near the scene of the first shooting at the entrance to Kiryat Arba where 200 settlers gathered to lay foundations for the first structure. According to Palestinian landowners nearby, the settlers brought a water tank, sand, and equipment with them, saying they were concerned that the settlers would decide to build on their property.

Furthermore, on September 30, Israeli Army Radio said thousands of new homes obtained the necessary licenses to start building in 57 West Bank settlements after the end of the moratorium on September 27. Meantime, several caravans were brought to the Alon Moreh settlement east of Nablus, which is built on lands belonging to the villages of Azmout and Der al-Hatab. In Jerusalem, a new settlement outpost was erected in Beit Safafa on September 2 and building has already begun in the Beit Hagai settlement near Hebron.

Settlers are not the only right wingers in Israel though. On August 28, Shas' spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef went on another racial rant during his weekly sermon, saying that President Abbas should "perish from this world." For good measure, Yosef then included all the Palestinian people in his curse saying that, "God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians" whom he called "evil bitter enemies of Israel."

There were sparks of hope this week, nonetheless. On August 30, the Israeli actor's boycott of a cultural center in Ariel that began with 53 theater professionals, took on a new life with over 150 Israeli academics, authors and artists signing letters of support. "We will not take part in any kind of cultural activity beyond the Green Line, take part in discussions and seminars, or lecture in any kind of academic setting in these settlements," the academics wrote.

"We support the theater artists refusing to play in Ariel, express our appreciation of their public courage and thank them for bringing the debate on settlements back into the headlines," the petition said. "We'd like to remind the Israeli public that like all settlements, Ariel is also in occupied territory. If a future peace agreement with the Palestinian authorities puts Ariel within Israel's borders, then it will be treated like any other Israeli town."

Finally, Muslims are coming to the end of their month of fasting, celebrating the last Friday in Ramadan amongst 2,000 Israeli border troops and soldiers, most of whom were deployed in the Old City around the Aqsa compound. Palestinian men under 50 and women under 40 were not allowed entry in the Aqsa while all others were only allowed entry with a special permit.