The United States called for the resumption of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks without any further delay in order to reach a lasting and a comprehensive peace agreement.Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, stated that “with the beginning of the new year, leaders of both sides need to get together and show the entire world that they are ready and willing to reach a two-state solution, two states living next to each other in peace”.
Nuland called on both Israel and the Palestinians to “refrain from what she called unilateral moves that obstruct the efforts to resume peace talks”, and to have “maximum levels of self-restraint”.
Nuland failed to directly mention Israel’s ongoing violations that are obstructing the resumption of talks, mainly Israel’s illegal settlement construction and expansion activities in the occupied West Bank, including in and around occupied East Jerusalem, in addition to Israel’s ongoing invasions, home demolitions and arrests.
