- Title: Palestinian PM hopes to set new parameters for peace with Israel
- Date: 16th May 2016
- Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (MAY 16, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER, RAMI HAMDALLAH ENTERING PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINIAN PRIME MINSTER, RAMI HAMDALLAH, SAYING: "You know, as I said before, we have been talking with the Israelis for 22 years and nothing has been achieved. Nothing has been achieved. So now we really support the idea of international peace conference all countries can participate in." PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS MAN TAKING PICTURE AT PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER, RAMI HAMDALLAH, SAYING: "So we hope that the peace conference which will hopefully be held this summer, I hope it can set new framework for peaceful settlement between us and Israel. All countries, at least the major countries would participate in the conference. And maybe we can set a time framework for the withdrawal of the Israeli troops and a time framework for the establishment of the Palestinian sovereign independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as our capital." CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 31st May 2016 12:12
- Keywords: Israel Palestinians peace Hamdallah Prime Minister
- Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0014I244ZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Palestinian Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah on Monday (May 16) expressed support for a French initiative for an international conference to try to revive Middle East peace talks.
France has called for an international gathering of ministers, tentatively planned for May 30 in Paris to set out a framework for Middel East peace negotiations, after U.S. efforts to broker a two-state deal collapsed in April 2014.
"We hope that the peace conference which will hopefully be held this summer, I hope it can set new framework for peaceful settlement between us and Israel. All countries, at least the major countries could participate," Hamdallah told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Hamdallah said over two decades of talks between Israel and the Palestinians have not produced any results.
"We have been talking with the Israelis for 22 years and nothing has been achieved," Hamdallah said. "So now we really support the idea of international peace conference all countries can participate in," he said.
The conference is set to include the Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations), the Arab League, the U.N. Security Council and about 20 countries, without Israeli or Palestinian participation.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel opposed the initiative and expressed concern that the conference would try to dictate terms for a peace deal.
In public remarks to his cabinet on Sunday Netanyahu said the only way to advance genuine peace between Israel and the Palestinians was through direct negotiations between the two sides without any preconditions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None