Palestinians Stand Fast on Preconditions

A U.S. proposal to resume Middle East peace talks without preconditions has been shot down by the Palestinian National Authority, which insists that Israel must first freeze settlement activity in the Palestinian territories. —JCL

Xinhua

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Saturday rejected a U.S. call for resuming the stalled peace talks with Israel without preconditions, demanding a full settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, [the] Gaza Strip ruling Islamic Hamas movement warned the PNA against any resumption and cautioned that Israel will be the only beneficiary of the peace talks.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Xinhua in a telephone interview that it is unacceptable, “since the U.S. administration’s calls don’t include a total freeze of settlements in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, and don’t include a timetable for resuming the talks.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said that the United States is working with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, as well as Arab states, namely Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, to resume the peace negotiations “as soon as possible and without preconditions.”

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Flickr / Creap

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank.