Palestinian and Israeli officials have arrived in the US in an attempt to break the deadlock over final status negotiations. Official US sources said that the delegations, led by Saeb Erekat and Shlomo Ben Ami, are scheduled to meet at a secluded location in the Washington area with US officials.

Final status negotiations have been deadlocked since July, after the collapse of the Camp David talks. The future status of Jerusalem remains one of the most disputed issues between both sides. While Israel maintains its position of “unilaterally-declared sovereignty” over the city, the Palestinians are pressing firmly for full sovereignty over east Jerusalem, in accordance with United Nations resolution 242.

Recent weeks have witnessed a number of new proposals for the final status of Jerusalem, including partial Palestinian sovereignty over the holy sites, and “administrative” Palestinian control over most of east Jerusalem. Clearly, such attempts to overstep the legal rights of the Palestinians will not provide a firm foundation for peace and stability in the region. On the contrary, they will lay the foundations for further conflict and uncertainty.