Gaza, Dec 31 (IANS) Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that Israel should meet its obligations in order to restart the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
‘Israel should halt settlement activity, accept the two-state solution and release all Palestinian prisoners in its jail to revive the peace negotiations before the 26th of next January,’ Abbas said at a meeting in Ramallah with Alexander Rudakov, head of Russia’s mission to the Palestinian National Authority, reported Xinhua, citing the state-run Wafa news agency.
The international Quartet for peace in the Middle East, which comprises the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations, has set Jan 26, 2012 as a deadline to restart peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Direct peace talks between the two sides were halted due to disputes over Jewish settlement in October last year, four weeks after the US-brokered negotiations were resumed.
