Palestinians demand complete halt to settlements, not only 90-day freeze

[News_Editor]

Palestinians demand complete halt to settlements, not only 90-day freeze

2010-11-15 22:15:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- The main Palestinian negotiator on Monday demanded a complete stop of the new housing projects, not only a temporary 90-day freeze in the West Bank, local media reported.

On Sunday, the U.S. asked Israel to freeze all new settlement construction begun after September 26 for a 90-day period in exchange for support in the United Nations and 20 additional advanced fighter planes worth $3 billion in order to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

However, the freeze focuses in the West Bank, and does not include the controversial settlement plans for east Jerusalem.

While Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu evaluates the offer, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said they are willing to go back to direct negotiations if the settlements are stopped, adding that the Israeli PM had chosen the settlements over peace.

Arab League official Hesham Youssef said the freeze would unlikely be enough to prompt peace talks.

"If the news is true about there being a settlement freeze that excludes Jerusalem and that takes the criticism off Israel, I cannot imagine that would be acceptable to the Palestinian side or the Arab side," Youssef said.

Since 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements.

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