Mid-East readers' views of Bush trip

An Israeli and a Palestinian from Gaza and the West Bank give their views on President Bush's hopes for a peace deal within 12 months.

FATHI SALAMEH, 47, JENIN, WEST BANK

A peace deal in 12 months? I don't think George Bush is being realistic.

The United Nations has been passing resolutions since 1967 and none of them has been implemented.

I don't see Israel complying with international law in the next 12 months.

As a Palestinian, I can't get rid of my views on how the issues should be resolved, just to please Mr Bush. And it's the same for the Israelis.

What are we going to do with the five million Palestinian refugees around the world? Or Jerusalem?

I cannot move from one city to another in the West Bank without being stopped by Israeli soldiers wanting to see my ID.

Sometimes it takes me two hours to reach my father, who lives just 20 minutes away by car.

And what about the settlements? They didn't mention the huge Israeli settlements in the heart of the West Bank.

We are not allowed to move within a few kilometres of these Israeli cities, on our land, for Israeli security reasons. It will not be acceptable as a Palestinian, for 60% of my land to be under Israeli control.

ROY COOPER, 30, TEL AVIV

I really want to believe that a peace deal is possible in 12 months, but we have seen so many talks ... People are very cynical about what's going on.

Ehud Olmert's Kadima party was elected specifically to do things like remove settlements and withdraw from the West Bank.

In order to have a two-state solution, I think some of the West Bank settlements will have to go.

However, sadly we see that the withdrawal from Gaza resulted in more Palestinian violence. So it does throw the next step into question.

Is the Israeli population ready to get rockets in Tel Aviv from the West Bank?

The more we talk and the more we give - the more violence we get.

I'm not sure about the Jerusalem issue; it's very, very delicate. I think the public understands that some of the city is completely Arab, and that they need Palestinian citizenship.

I don't support Israeli expansion into the Arab part of the city, not really.

If it's expansion to the south - in other words at Har Homa - then that's a natural expansion of an existing settlement, that's OK.

I think most of the public is agreed that the smaller settlements, the outposts, must go.

Any decision on final boundaries will need responsibility from the other side.

It's a very tense and difficult step to take. The reality around us is that it's not the right thing to do, because we would be compromising our security in a big way.

Is the Israeli population ready to get rockets in Tel Aviv from the West Bank?

I hope there will be peace and I hope the Palestinian people will take steps towards it, but I'm not sure they will.

Their actions suggest they want one state - without us. It would be funny... if all our lives weren't at stake.

ABDALLAH SAMIR, 27, GAZA STRIP

I have not been following George Bush's visit much because the lack of electricity makes it very difficult to watch television news.

But I don't think a peace deal in 12 months is possible. There is absolutely no progress on the ground, nothing at all. It's just the same cracked record playing over and over again.

How can they not include Gaza in their talks? They cannot just ignore us, there are more than 1.5 million of us in Gaza. We are just as much Palestinians as people in the West Bank.

By discussing a solution without including Gaza, Bush is giving Israel a green light to attack the Gaza Strip and to do whatever it wants here.

The division between Gaza and the West Bank is growing every day. The West is not helping the Palestinians to unite.

The closure of Gaza has resulted in many businesses here closing. Everything is more expensive. We lack electricity, certain medicines and other goods.

I am doing my final exams right now, I am due to graduate in two weeks.

But I can't even send my CV to apply for a Masters abroad because the post office is closed. This is just one of the many struggles we face.

I hear about the settlements in the West Bank - and that the bulldozers are still busy even when President Bush is there.

How can there be a peace process when this is happening? Israel just keeps taking more land.

Words are cheap, whatever Bush says is just words. Nothing is going to change on the ground.