(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that Palestinians will agree to extend the time frame for negotiations with Israel only if Israel freezes construction in the settlements and frees additional Palestinian prisoners.
During a meeting with Meretz party leader MK Zahava Gal-on in Ramallah last night, President Abbas warned the Israeli faction leader that he will not extend negotiations if the framework agreement doesn't deal with the core issues, saying: "I will put the keys on the table and turn to international organizations," Hebrew media reported, hours after Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics published new data indicating that construction in the West Bank more than doubled during 201
The Palestinian leader stressed that the Palestinians will only agree to an extension of the peace talks "if Netanyahu declares a construction freeze in the settlements and a further release of prisoners after the next round," referring to the third and final wave of prisoners set to be released by Israe
Abbas told Gal-On that the key markers moving forward are the third round of prisoners' release and the agreed-upon end of the nine-month period of negotiations: April 2
Abbas reiterated the Palestinian demand on several core issues, telling the Meretz leader that the Palestinians should have East Jerusalem, and that the two capital cities should be managed through the mediation of an institution that will coordinate between the two sides, Israeli newspaper (Maariv) reported today. On the controversial matter of land swaps, Abbas declared: "What the Israelis are offering is not a proportional swap of 1 to 1, but swaps that are dependent on demographic developments." The current round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is set to expire in Apri
Last month, Abbas's office released a list of Palestinian "red lines" without which negotiations could not succee
The Palestinian conditions included a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within four years, recognition of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, and a "just and agreed upon" solution to the refugee issu
Abbas is scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington March 17, ahead of an American framework agreement to be produced later this mont
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.