P.A objects to the Quartet about settlement expansion

The Palestinian Authority delivered an urgent message to the Quartet objecting to the Israeli policies of settlement expansion in the West Bank, especially around Jerusalem.

Dr. Saeb Erekat, head of the negotiations department at the Palestinian Liberation Organization, said on Saturday that the P.A addressed the United States, Russia, Europe and the United Nations and sent detailed maps and documents of Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank.

“The maps include the recent Israeli plan to expand Maale Adumim settlement and the Separation Wall which deeply intrudes in the Palestinian territories”

“The P.A rejects such projects which endanger the peace efforts and the final status solution,” Erekat said. “We demanded that the Quartet interferes and makes sure that Israel refrains from implementing its settlement projects.”

Erekat added that the statements of the US president, George Bush, concerning establishing a government which meets the needs of the people in the Gaza Strip, do not mean separating Gaza from the West Bank.

“There are no talks about a separate government in the Gaza Strip,” Erekat stated.  ‘The International Community always called for one Authority and one law in the occupied territories.  Bush did not talk about two separate governments.”

Also, Erekat said that the Palestinians are committed to the Road Map plan and added that the International Community should be actively involved, especially after the Israeli withdrawal.

“We demanded the Americans make sure that Israel implements the Road Map Plan,” Erekat said.  “We are ready to perform our duties and responsibilities, but Israel should fulfill its obligations, evacuate from the Palestinian occupied territories, stop its settlements activities.”