WEST BANK: French President Francois Hollande says that the Israeli settlement building weighs on peace prospects during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Record ID: 564766

  • Title: WEST BANK: French President Francois Hollande says that the Israeli settlement building weighs on peace prospects during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
  • Date: 18th November 2013
  • Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 18, 2013) (REUTERS) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE AND PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS AT NEWS CONFERENCE HALL HOLLANDE AND ABBAS WALKING TO PODIUM SECURITY AT SCENE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: "I will repeat it today - France is against settlements and calls for the end to settlement building because that complicates the negotiations and it compromises the two-state solution." MORE OF NEWS CONFERENCE PALESTINIAN, FRENCH AND EUROPEAN UNION FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, SAYING: "We are committed to nine months of negotiations, there is no discussion or disagreement when it comes to this subject. The third point is that we also agreed, with Mr. Kerry (U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry) and from his side he made an agreement with the Israeli side to not go to international institutes which we are entitled to go to after the (United Nations) General Assembly resolution in return to the release of 104 prisoners by Israel. There is a misunderstanding by the Israelis, they mix the release of prisoners with the continuation of settlement building and this is not true." FRENCH DELEGATION AT NEWS CONFERENCE ABBAS AND HOLLANDE HUGGING EACH OTHER MORE OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF FRENCH AND PALESTINIAN OFFICIALS SIGNING COOPERATION AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3Q8X3N1SPSJWUOD0WE89LPG1Q
  • Story Text: French President Francois Hollande called on Israel on Monday (November 18) to halt settlement building on occupied territory, saying it hampers chances for a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
    Israel has announced plans for thousands of new settler homes since U.S.-brokered peace negotiations with the Palestinians began in July after a three-year break.

    "I will repeat it today - France is against settlements and calls for the end to settlement building because that complicates the negotiations and it compromises the two-state solution," Hollande told journalists at a joint news conference in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
    Palestinian negotiators last week offered to resign in protest against Israel's settlement drive, but Palestinian officials confirmed to Reuters that they would likely stay in place until they agreed to return or a new delegation was formed. Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator, told Israeli radio on Monday that her Palestinian counterpart was "back in business" and that talks, paused for more than a week, would resume.
    Abbas reaffirmed at the news conference that the talks with Israel would continue for the full nine-month period agreed with the United States.

    "We are committed to nine months of negotiations, there is no discussion or disagreement when it comes to this subject," he said, adding that there was a misunderstanding between the Israelis and Palestinians over the release of prisoners with the continuation of settlement building.
    Hollande met Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Sunday (November 17) for talks on international efforts to reach an agreement with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
    Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, now under the control of Abbas's Hamas Islamist rivals, with East Jerusalem as its capital. They fear Israel's settlements will deny them a viable country.
    More than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem alongside 2.5 million Palestinians. Israeli cites historical and Biblical links to those areas.
    Most countries consider the settlements Israel has built on land it captured in the 1967 Middle East war as illegal.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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