Netanyahu's plan signals no intention to resume peace talks: PLO

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's initiative to temporarily freeze settlement building in the West Bank does not present any basis for resuming peace talks, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said Thursday.

"Netanyahu's plan is rejected and we Palestinians consider it a play and narrow-minded maneuvers," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary of the PLO's Executive Committee.

"It doesn't add anything new to the efforts of resuming the peace talks and it aims to avoid international pressure that rejects the settlement," Abed Rabbo told a press conference in Ramallah.

Netanyahu's declaration "doesn't mean a comprehensive suspension of settlement activities," he said.

Under the plan, Israel would freeze new buildings in the West Bank settlements for 10 months to convince the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to restart peace negotiations.

Netanyahu's initiative does not apply to East Jerusalem which the Palestinians consider as their future capital. The plan would also allow underway projects to complete and will not stop building public facilities for nearly 300,000 Jews in the occupied West Bank.

Abed Rabbo said the negotiations can not resume without the full freeze of settlement buildings in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel has also to recognize the borders of the territories occupied in the 1967 war as the boundaries of a future Palestinian state, he added.

Source: Xinhua