RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – Peace negotiations with Israel haven’t made any progress so far despite all the meetings between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators, President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday.
Speaking at a meeting for his Fatah movement’s consultative council in Ramallah, Abbas added that he expected some “tension” in the offing because Israel is trying to connect settlement expansion to the release of veteran Palestinian prisoners.
“Israel is saying that after prisoners have been released, settlement expansion should continue,” Abbas said.
This connection, he added, and this parity might blow up the situation while negotiations have achieved nothing yet.
Abbas also asserted that he turned down a request by the US administration to freeze any legal procedures through international organizations during the nine months of negotiations.
“It is the Palestinians who can decide on this step and nobody can force them to take it,” he said.
Speaking about the Jordan Valley, the president highlighted that Israel gains $620 million every year from its control of the territory. Israeli claims about security interests in the Jordan Valley are false, he added.
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