- Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to wreck talks
- Date: 13th November 2013
- Summary: JERICHO, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 13, 2013) (REUTERS) CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR SAEB EREKAT WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR SAEB EREKAT SAYING: "In reality, the negotiations stopped last week, to be honest, in light of the settlement announcements last week. We face on a daily basis Israeli behaviour and actions that are related to settlement and t
- Embargoed: 28th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: West bank
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4GTSSKCCFD005D77PQ3287E7G
- Story Text: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday (November 13) that his peace negotiators had resigned over the lack of progress in U.S.-brokered statehood talks clouded by Israeli settlement building.
In an interview with Egyptian CBC television, Abbas suggested however that the negotiations would continue even if the Palestinian peace delegation stuck to its decision. he added new negotiating team may be formed if the current team decided to stick to their decision to quit.
It was unclear from Abbas's interview when the Palestinian negotiators had quit, but Abbas said he would need about a week to resume the talks.
In a statement to Reuters TV on Wednesday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat did not elaborate on the report of his resignation, but said the sessions with Israel were frozen.
"In reality, the negotiations stopped last week, to be honest, in light of the settlement announcements last week. We face on a daily basis Israeli behaviour and actions that are related to settlement and the killing in cold blood, settler terrorism under the protection of the Israeli soldiers, home demolition, to propose laws in the Israeli Knesset that aim to divide the holy A-lAqsa Mosque etc. All the Israeli behaviours whether on the negotiation table or on the ground if they show anything they show one thing and that is, making Kerry fail and they (Israelis) alone should be held responsible," he said.
Since the talks got underway after a three-year break, Israel has announced plans for several thousand new settler homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The disclosure on Wednesday that Israel's Housing Ministry had commissioned separate plans for nearly 24,000 more homes for Israelis in the two areas raised U.S. concern and drew Palestinian condemnation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an advocate of settlement construction, intervened late on Tuesday (November 12), ordering a halt to the projects and saying he had no prior knowledge of them.
Netanyahu said he feared such settlement activity could trigger an international outcry that would divert attention from Israel's lobbying against a deal between world powers and Iran that would ease economic sanctions on Tehran without dismantling its nuclear-enrichment capabilities.
A statement announcing Netanyahu's move made no mention of the Palestinians or the land-for-peace negotiations. Most countries say Israeli settlements built in areas captured in the 1967 Middle East war are illegal.
Meanwhile in Jerusalem Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister for strategic affairs, told journalists that it was well understood by the Palestinians that settlement construction was not to be halted during peace talks.
"Prime Minster Netanyahu made it very clear, that we are going to release some prisoners but there is no freeze in the settlements. It's not just theoretically, we will build in the settlements during the negotiations. I don't suggest that this is kind of agreement, but let me be very accurate, this was clearly understood by all three sides, the Israelis the Palestinians the Americans," Seitnitz said.
The development would mark a new low point for the talks with Israel that resumed in July and which officials from both sides have said have made little headway.
Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an area now controlled by Hamas Islamist opposed to Abbas's peace moves, with East Jerusalem as its capital. They fear Israeli settlements will deny them a viable country.
Israel cites historical and biblical links to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more than 500,000 Israelis live alongside 2.5 million Palestinians. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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