On Wednesday, at a videoconference with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Washington, the U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton declared that the U.S. will not support any unilateral step related to the Israel-Palestinian dialogue.With regard to the P.A. announcement that the Palestinians could appeal to the U.N. Security Council over Jewish settlement building, Clinton made the U.S. position clear:
‘Negotiations between the parties is the only means by which all of the outstanding claims arising out of the conflict can be resolved.’
‘We do not support unilateral steps by either party that could prejudge the outcome of such negotiations,’ AFP reported.
This statement comes at a very delicate moment in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, which are suspended after Israel’s refusal to extend a 10-month moratorium on settlement expansion in the West Bank.
In the previous weeks, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that if Israel refused to freeze settlements, Palestinians would ask the U.S. to propose a solution and submit it to both sides. However, he also claimed that Palestinians could ask the U.N. Security Council for an international recognition of a Palestinian state.
