Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday that peace between Israel and the Palestinians would be possible to be achieved during the year 2008.
Erekat told reporters in Ramallah that the current peace process between Israel and the Palestinians "still exists" on condition that Israel "stops settlements, arrests, incursions and assassinations against the Palestinians."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered to freeze the talks with Israel in the wake of a deadly Israeli military operation in northern Gaza Strip in late February which left around 130 people killed.
The Palestinian Authority has also protested the Israeli plans to build more new housing units into Jewish settlements around east Jerusalem. They warned that settlement activities might blow up the entire peace process.
Abbas expressed hope that a peace treaty on permanent status issues would be reached with Israel before the end of 2008, which has been doubted by some Israeli and Palestinian officials.
"The peace process is possible, but if Israel continues its settlements activities and imposes facts on the ground, it will lead to making the year 2008 a year of dragging the region to more cycles of violence,' said Erekat.
He revealed that through his contacts and meetings, President Abbas is seeking "a certain form to stop Israeli settlement activities and a form for calm that would make the year 2008 a year of peace."
Source:Xinhua
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