Erekat condemns settlement expansion
Reageer (0)16-8-2010
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced Sunday evening the installation of several mobile homes in eight West Bank settlement, as the Ramallah-based leadership mulls reentering into direct talks with Israel.
Condemning settlement activity, Erekat said "While huge efforts are been made internationally, especially by the US, to lay the grounds for launching direct negotiations, the Israeli government adds more obstacles by building constructions in eight West Bank settlements," a statement read.
Erekat further criticized the Israeli government for opposing the Quartet's statement before its issuance, saying Israel was "going to extremes with the refusal of a serious peace process. This indicates very clearly that this Israeli government has a different agenda far from seeking peace and stability in the region."
The Palestinian Authority and PLO have repeatedly called for a halt to settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a basis for returning to negotiations.
The head of the Palestinian National Initiative said Israel's decision to construct 23 buildings in eight settlements across the West Bank "confirms it is a settler government that does not want peace."
PNI chief Mustafa Barghouthi said the expansions would be undertaken in Ofra, Eli, Talmon, Immanuel, Elon More, Adam and Efrata across the West Bank.
The politician further denounced ongoing demolitions across the Jordan Valley and warned that 30 homes in Kufur Aqab, an area in occupied East Jerusalem, were threatened to facilitate settlement expansion.
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas met with US official David Hale in Ramallah on Sunday evening to discuss the Mideast Quartet statement pushing for a resumption of direct talks.
Abbas has also insisted that Israel stop constructing settlements on land which would be a Palestinian state before negotiations can resume.
A partial 10-month freeze on settlement construction, imposed under US pressure, expires in September, and on Sunday Israeli officials announced construction of a new settlement in the northern West Bank, the Hebrew-language daily Maariv reported.
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