Israeli settlement offer fails on Abbas decision

Azerbaijan News.Net
Thursday 26th November, 2009

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that peace talks will not be able to resume unless Israel halts settlement activity in East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank.

On Wednesday, in a move welcomed by the US, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a 10-month halt for new building permits for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

President Abbas has now insisted the Israeli obligation should spread to the settlements of all the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem.

But Israel has called on the Palestinians to move quickly to take up the original offer, calling it an unprecedented step towards achieving peace in the Middle East.

The Palestinian leader has said the offer is nothing new and any talks aimed at reaching a two-state solution must include Jerusalem.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in a move that was condemned internationally.

Israeli officials authorised new settlement construction there last week.

Have your say on this story