Envoys of the Middle East Quartet Committee will be holding separate meetings with Palestinian and Israeli officials in Jerusalem on October 26th, in an attempt to revive direct Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, Mark Toner, U.S State Department spokesperson said.
The Ma’an News Agency phoned Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, said that he was not personally informed of such a meeting, but added that the Palestinian side has no problem in meeting with Quartet members.
He claimed that he holds regular meetings with Quartet members, especially United Nations Special Coordinator, Robert Sery.
But the Palestinian official indicated that the Quartet Committee (The United Nations, The United States, The European Union and Russia), has nothing new to offer so far, as the Palestinians insist that Israel should halt all of its settlement activities in the occupied territories, including in illegally annexed East Jerusalem.
Israel’s illegal settlement activities were among the main reasons that pushed the Palestinians to quit the peace talks with Israel. Other violations include, but not limited to, Israel’s home demolition policy in Jerusalem, and its ongoing military escalation in the occupied territories.
Israel is continuing with its construction and expansion of settlements, and most recently approved a plan to build an initial 2,610 units for Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem, with a plan to increase this to a total of 4,200 units in time.
