BREAKING NEWS

PA official: Palestinians accusing Israel of attempted blackmail with prisoner release terms

A meeting between US State Department Middle East peace envoy Martin Indyk and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ended without result early Friday morning on the issue of Israel's delay of a fourth Palestinian prisoner release, a PA official said.
PA Deputy Minister for Prisoner Affairs Ziad Abu Ein said Israel had conditioned the release, original expected to take place Saturday, on the extension of negotiations and new terms for a framework peace deal.
"Israel agrees to extend negotiations, with possible additions to the [current] framework," Abu Ein said on his Facebook account.
He stressed that the Palestinian leadership considered the delay a major violation of the current agreement, and was accusing Israel of trying to blackmail the PA with new conditions.