Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has laid out the conditions that would get Palestinians back into face-to-face discussions with the Israelis.The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said that he will likely engage in direct talks with Israel if certain conditions are met in the meantime, according to statements which were released Thursday.
Among those conditions are a complete halt to settlement construction. He also indicated that he would only enter negotiations if the ultimate end was to see the establishment of a Palestinian state built upon the lands occupied since 1967.
The statements came to light after Abbas’s meeting with Saudia Arabia’s King Abdullah on Wednesday.
Abbas also indicated that the internal divisions of the Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, were not something to impair the negotiations for a Palestinian state. He also said that any agreement reached would be ratified by the Palestinian people in a referendum.
