Palestine accepts US call for talks with Israel

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Palestine accepts US call for talks with Israel

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21 August,2010 01:02 pm

Palestinian leaders on Friday accepted a US invitation for face-to-face peace talks with Israel but said they would withdraw if it resumed Jewish settlement building on occupied land. The chief Palestinian negotiator said the Palestinians would pull out of the talks, due to start on Sept 2, if the Israeli government announced any new settlement building on land where the Palestinians aim to found their state. If the Israeli government decides to announce new tenders on Sept. 26, then we won't be able to continue with the talks, Saeb Erekat said after a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) executive committee in Ramallah.He was referring to the date when a 10-month, Israeli freeze on settlement building in the West Bank is due to end. His comments reflected the immediate challenges facing the U.S. effort to revive the two-decade-old Middle East peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads a coalition government that backs Jewish settlement on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.