The Middle East peace process suffered a fresh blow after the entire Palestinian negotiating team resigned on Wednesday in protest against continued Israeli settlement building.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, one of the negotiators, said the move was in response to “increasing settlement building [by Israel] and the absence of any hope of achieving results.”
“Until now, [Palestinian] President [Mahmoud] Abbas has not accepted our resignation,” he added.
Photo: AFP
Shtayyeh held Israel “completely responsible for the failure of negotiations, because of the continuation and escalation of settlement building.”
Another negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the resignations.
CHOICES
“Abbas has a number of choices here — he can refuse or accept and form a new delegation, or demand a new negotiations mechanism,” he said, referring to the possibility of indirect talks through a US team.
Chief negotiator Saeb Erakat is among those who submitted their resignations, the sources said.
US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Abbas remained committed to peace talks “for the nine-month agreed-upon time frame.”
“Both sides remain committed. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment last week. So we will continue to proceed,” she told reporters.
Following mediation by Washington, direct talks resumed in July after a three-year hiatus that was due primarily to Palestinian refusal to talk while settlement expansion continued.
Since then Israel has announced plans to build thousands of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank — territory the Palestinians want for their future state under any peace deal.
Late on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the cancelation of plans to build 20,000 more homes in the West Bank, hours after their announcement sparked US and Palestinian criticism.
Netanyahu publicly forced Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel, who had approved the plans, to back down after drawing US condemnation for a settlement project the Palestinians warned would end a fragile peace process.
His dramatic intervention to halt the plan to build what experts said would be the biggest ever batch of settler homes on occupied Palestinian territory came after fierce criticism from the US, which has been pushing for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
FOCUS ON IRAN
Netanyahu directly linked his reprimand of Ariel to Israel’s plans to scupper a possible international deal with its arch-foe Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
“At this time, the attention of the international community must not be diverted from the main effort — preventing Iran from receiving an agreement that will allow it to continue its military nuclear program,” Netanyahu said.
Abbas had warned that he would declare the peace process over if they went ahead.
He told Egyptian TV channel CBC late on Wednesday that the negotiators had presented their resignations, but that he had not yet accepted them.
For his part, UN Middle East special coordinator Robert Serry issued a statement reiterating the position of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that settlements are “contrary to international law and an obstacle to peace.”
Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri dismissed the resignations as a media stunt. Speaking on behalf of the Islamist group, which holds sway in the Gaza Strip, he said it was necessary “to stop the negotiations, not change the negotiators.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was