Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have entered a "difficult phase" ahead of a U.S.-hosted peace conference, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday.
"There is only a very thin line separating between the difficulty and the crisis," Erekat warned during an interview with Voice of Palestine radio.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams met Monday again as part of regular meetings in preparations for the upcoming peace conference.
The much-touted peace conference is expected to be held in Annapolis in the U.S. later this month.
In early October, Israel and the Palestinians formed two negotiating teams to hammer out the joint document over resuming the peace negotiations.
"Differences over Annapolis and the form of the mutual announcement document are still large," Erekat explained. "We are still trying to agree on the document."
The Palestinian leadership was seeking peace "but not at the expense of the Palestinian blood," said Erekat, adding that the peace must be based on ending the occupation, founding a Palestinian statehood and resolving final status issues.
So-called final-status negotiations were referred to those thorniest issues regarding the lasting Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which include control over Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and borders of the future Palestinian state.
Source: Xinhua
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