Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader rejects Palestinian-Israeli talks

The head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) says he will never sit at the negotiating table with the Tel Aviv regime in the so-called peace process that has been initiated by the United States.

Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah said the Israeli regime does not intend to give anything to the Palestinians in the talks between the two sides, stressing that resistance is the only way ahead for the Palestinians.

Israelis have continued to build illegal settler units in the occupied Palestinian territories and undermined Islamic sanctities for decades under the pretext of negotiations, Shallah added.

The PIJ head further stated that under the current circumstances, Palestinians are left with no other option but to resist Israel’s expansionist policies in order to ensure their own statehood.

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

Since the resumption of the talks, Israel has announced plans for building several thousands of new settler units in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The Israeli regime has come under fire from the international community, including its own allies, over Tel Aviv’s expansionist policies.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.