'Israeli escalation aims to kill talks'

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http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=171513

'Israeli escalation aims to kill talks'

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

22/03/2010 02:49

" It's obvious Israeli government does not want peace, " says Abbas spokesman.

The Palestinian Authority on Sunday stepped up its condemnations of Israel and

accused the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of working to

" destroy " US efforts to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The PA claimed that Israel was increasing tensions in the region by increasing

its " attacks " on Palestinians so that it could divert attention from the

international community's demand for a total freeze of settlement construction.

However, PA officials in Ramallah said they didn't rule out the possibility that

indirect talks with Israel would be resumed in the coming weeks. The officials

said that in recent days the PA leadership has received " positive messages " from

Washington regarding Israel's plans to build new homes in Jewish neighborhoods

in eastern Jerusalem.

" Apparently, Netanyahu has accepted our demand that the issue of Jerusalem be

discussed during the indirect talks that are supposed to take place in a few

weeks, " said a senior PA official. " If true, this is a positive development

because Netanyahu had so far refused to put the issue of Jerusalem on the

table. "

Another top PA official said that the US administration has told the PA

leadership that the Netanyahu government has agreed to release a significant

number of Fatah prisoners from Israeli jails as a " confidence-building measure "

and " goodwill gesture " to the Palestinians ahead of the talks.

The official said that the PA leadership was waiting to hear from US Middle East

envoy , who is scheduled to hold talks with PA President Mahmoud

Abbas in Jordan on Monday, whether Netanyahu is " serious " about the reported

gestures.

" In any case, we will return to the talks only after we receive assurances from

the Americans that the construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank would be

completely halted, " he added.

The PA, meanwhile, warned that Israel's " escalation " was threatening to destroy

US efforts to persuade the Palestinians to launch the indirect talks.

Referring to the killing of four Palestinian men by IDF soldiers in the Nablus

area in the past 48 hours, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said that

the Netanyahu government was " sending a message to the US and the Quartet, as

well as the Arabs, in response to demands that it halt settlement construction. "

He said that the latest escalation was " deplorable and unacceptable " because it

would foil all efforts to resume the Middle East peace process.

" It's obvious that the Israeli government does not want peace, " Abu Rudaineh

said. " Nor does it want negotiations [with the Palestinians]. "

He also condemned the killings and Israel's plans to build 1,600 new homes in

Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood as " provocative, " adding that without

practical US pressure on Israel the peace talks would not be resumed.

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned that Israel's actions on the ground were

threatening to destroy his government's achievements. He also called on the

international community to provide the Palestinians with protection.

The PLO Executive Committee, a key decision-making body dominated by Abbas

loyalists, accused Israel of seeking to " reignite the region with blood and

fire. " The committee claimed that Israel's actions were part of a " conspiracy "

aimed at creating confusion in the region so that the Netanyahu government could

avoid fulfilling its commitments in accordance with the peace process.