Al-Quds, Shawwal 06, 1431/Sept 15, 2010, SPA -- Israel and the Palestinians are addressing core disputes as part of their nascent peace negotiations and the United States is encouraged about prospects for an accord, U.S. envoy George Mitchell said on Wednesday. "They are tackling up front ... the issues that are at the centre of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Reuters quoted Mitchell as telling reporters after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Al-Quds. "I will say that the two leaders are not leaving the tough issues to the end of their discussions ... We take this as a strong indicator of their belief that peace is possible." --SPA 22:21 LOCAL TIME 19:21 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/817453