Erekat: Palestinians accept no middle-ground solutions to settlements

The Palestinians reject middle-ground solutions and will not join peace talks with Israel unless the Jewish state completely halts settlement activities, chief Palestinian negotiator said Wednesday.

"There will be no negotiations without freezing the settlement," Saeb Erekat told a press conference in Ramallah.

He reiterated that the negotiations "should be resumed from the last point they have stopped at," referring to disputes and gaps over this issue.

Erekat said that starting new negotiations means that the talks will go ahead with settlement activities in place. "And this also means that we are going to have a Palestinian statehood with provisional borders and this has never and won't ever be our choice."

The veteran negotiator warned that the Palestinians may respond with unexpected decisions if the settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem continued.

If the United States could not force Israel to stop the settlement activities, its pledge to create a Palestinian statehood within 24 months "will remain only words," Erekat said.

Source: Xinhua