Israel set to OK 'quid pro quo' Gaza deal: report

Israel is set to accept a plan under which it would ease its Gaza blockade in return for the international community agreeing a limited probe into a deadly flotilla raid, it was reported Wednesday, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was due to hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Britain last week circulated a document outlining proposals to ease the blockade. It quoted an unnamed Western source close to the talks with Israel saying: "A quid pro quo deal is in the offing."

Israel has outlined plans to hold probes into the legality of its naval blockade of Gaza and the raid last week on an aid flotilla which was bidding to break it which killed nine people.

It is reportedly considering setting up an investigative team made up of Israeli jurists and former diplomats as well as two foreign observers.

This would fall short of the independent, international investigation several world leaders have called for.

On the blockade, the Daily Telegraph said Israel has been asked to ease access into Gaza at crossings and allow the U.N. to convey material needed to rebuild 60,000 homes destroyed or damaged in the 2008-09 Gaza war.

"Israel could be flexible about items reaching the civilian population," said an unnamed Israeli official quoted by the paper.

Officials deny there is a link between their willingness to cooperate and matters related to the inquiry, the paper said.

Probe

The United States said Tuesday it backed international participation in a probe into the highly controversial flotilla raid, echoing similar remarks by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Meanwhile, 21 Asian and Middle Eastern states expressed "grave concern and condemnation" over the raid at a security summit in Istanbul.

Turkey, whose citizens died on the flotilla, has said normalization of ties with Israel would be "out of the question" if it failed to agree to an international probe.

Abbas, meanwhile, will seek "bold decisions" from Obama on the Middle East despite tensions after Israel's deadly raid on aid ships.

Hosting Abbas at the White House, Obama will also try to ensure that heightened Middle East tensions over last week's deadly Israeli commando operation do not derail sputtering U.S.-led peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.

The visit comes a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his own White House trip to deal with the fallout from the Gaza crisis.

The raid left nine civilians dead, and Obama will be eager to tamp down regional fury and ensure the incident does not doom indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks that Washington spent months setting up.

The Obama administration has deemed "unsustainable" the three-year-old blockade, which Israel says is needed to stop weapons smuggling and Palestinians call collective punishment.

Gaza "status-quo"

Obama will discuss American efforts to break through a "status-quo" on the blockaded Gaza Strip, which his administration described as "untenable" following the deadly Israeli raid.

"The president looks forward to receiving president Abbas to review progress in the proximity talks and discuss our common efforts to achieve Middle East peace," said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.

Abbas arrived in Washington from Turkey, which condemned as "state terrorism" the maritime raid, in which nine of its citizens were killed, including one who also held U.S. citizenship.

Abbas last week set a clear rhetorical framework for his long-awaited summit with the U.S. president.

"My message to Obama during our meeting in Washington next week will be that we need bold decisions to change the face of the region," he said at an investment conference in the West Bank.

But it remains unclear exactly what Obama can offer Abbas, other than a public embrace, a vow not to give up navigating the treacherous diplomatic thicket of the Middle East and some hope of future humanitarian gestures to Gaza.

Privately, Obama may commit to continue pressing Netanyahu and to seek a commitment from the Israelis to enter eventual direct talks, but relations between the White House and Netanyahu have been testy, leaving the U.S. leader little room to maneuver.

In addition to White House talks, Abbas is scheduled to meet with U.S. national security advisor Jim Jones, and with U.S. lawmakers.