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Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said on Tuesday that Paris is moving forward with its initiative to bring Palestinians and Israelis together at a peace summit in Paris later this year, despite US concerns over the plan, according to the Associated Press. Speaking of the French plan earlier this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued “there is no agreement that the parties will resume negotiations. And I think the idea of any gathering, a conference or a meeting, has to be linked to willingness by the parties to resume negotiating.” Juppe, however, expressed his optimism on Tuesday, saying that Israel was evaluating the proposal and Palestinians have responded positively to it.
