Maan News Agency: Erekat: Talks useless without settlement freeze

 

 

CAIRO (DPA) — Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says direct talks with Israel are useless unless a construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank is renewed, a regional daily reported Saturday.

“Yes, we are at the end of the game. It is now the time for decisions. Negotiations are useless. It is now his [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] choice; either peace or settlements,” Erekat told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Erekat, who was in Washington this week, said the Palestinians will give the United States around three more weeks to hear what Israel’s final decision regarding settlement construction is.

Palestinians have presented the Arab League with alternatives to direct Israeli peace talks, including possibly having the United Nations recognize a Palestinian state without Israeli approval.

Israeli-Palestinian direct peace talks resumed in early September but fell into limbo within weeks, when Netanyahu allowed a 10-month partial settlement construction freeze to expire.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has signaled there would be no further negotiations unless Israel halted construction of settlements on land that Palestinians argue would be part of a future Palestinian state.

Maan News Agency: Erekat: Talks useless without settlement freeze.

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