PA official gives Israel, US week to find freeze solution

Sha'ath warns there won't be talks if building in West Bank is not halted; Abbas says will stop negotiations if freeze not reinstated.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
311_Adam settlement building (photo credit: Associated Press)
311_Adam settlement building
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Palestinian Authority negotiator Nabil Sha'ath said on Tuesday that the Palestinians are giving the US and Israel four or five days to a week to find a solution to the issue of the West Bank settlement freeze.
Sha'ath said that there will not be talks between Israel and the Palestinians until building is frozen in the West Bank.
"Maybe the Israelis will examine their stance on the issue and understand the whole world opposes the continuation of building in the settlements," Sha'th continued.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told radio station Europe 1 that he will stop talks if the settlement freeze is not reinstated, AFP reported on Tuesday.
"We don't want to stop the talks, but if the building continues, we will have to put a stop to them," Abbas said. "[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu must know that peace is more important than settlements."
"We ask for a moratorium during negotiations, because as long as there are negotiations, there is hope," he reportedly told the radio station in Arabic.
Earlier on Tuesday, Fatah official Marwan Barghouti said that "without requiring Israel to return Palestinian refugees, negotiations are worthless . In an interview with Al-Hayat, Barghouti said Israel's leadership is "not serious and not trying to achieve peace."
"If the US will continue to favor Israel without pressuring it to end the occupation and return to 1967 borders, peace efforts will fail," he explained.
Barghouti, who is currently serving 67 life sentences in an Israeli prison, also announced his continued support for the armed struggle against Israel.


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