Palestinian official urges to fasten Israel-US talks on settlement

The longer Israel and Washington hold talks on resuming the Middle East peace talks, the less hope the peace process has, a Palestinian official said Sunday.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Executive Committee, said that Israel wants " to gain more time to create facts on the ground" during its talks with the United States, referring to the Jewish settlement building.

Abed Rabbo accused Israel of trying to get "a high price from Washington" in exchange for the building freeze "and this means that the peace process is no longer able to revive."

The Palestinians and Israel had resumed the direct talks in Washington early September under the U.S. mediation, but the talks broke down after a few weeks over a dispute on Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem which the Palestinians regard as the future capital of their independent state.

On Saturday, the Israeli media reported the talks with the U.S. administration collapsed.

However, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday the United States informed the Palestinians its discussions with Israel were still underway. Washington pledged to provide a package of security and diplomatic incentives to Israel in return for a temporary settlement moratorium.

Source: Xinhua