Palestinian Authority rejects US plan to extend talks

Palestinian Authority has rejected the United States’ plan to extend the so-called peace talks with Israel beyond the April deadline.

“There is no meaning to prolonging the negotiation even for one more additional hour, if Israel, represented by its current government, continues to disregard international law,” said Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on Thursday.

Erekat also stated that if the Israeli side was a “committed partner,” the deal would have been reached sooner.

His remarks came in response to comments by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said on Wednesday that the talks would need another nine months.

Washington has been arranging meetings since last July, in order to end the Middle East crisis.

However, acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, said last week that efforts made by the United States to secure a framework for negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel have failed so far.

Palestinian officials say Kerry’s suggestions cannot serve as a basis for any settlement because they do not take into account the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began a fresh round of talks in July 2013. Previous negotiations between the two sides broke down in September 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

Kerry initially gave the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli regime nine months to complete their talks. The deadline will expire in April 2014.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian lands.

Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds. Israel also continues illegal settlement construction in East al-Quds and the West Bank.