Erekat Confirms Holding Two Meetings with the Israelis to Discuss the Resumption of Negotiations

saeb_erekat_pose_jazeera — Saeb Erekat urged Latin American countries to stop visits to occupied Jersalem. (Photo: File)

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s Secretary of the Executive Committee and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed that he held direct negotiations with the Israelis to discuss the resumption of negotiations between the two sides.

The Radio Israel revealed on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has requested conducting secret negotiations with the Israeli side to stop the Jerusalem Intifada in return for discussing final status issues.

According to Radio Israel, the PA proposal was part of an initiative to quash the Jerusalem uprising, which it warned could result in a state of boiling across Palestinian territories and a “looming wave of bloodshed.”

In a press statement released on Sunday Erekat said that the Palestinian side’s demands were made during the two meetings, which were held in July and August in Amman and Cairo with the Israeli occupation’s Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom.

He added that the Palestinian side demanded the demarcation of the border as it was in 1967; the release of the fourth batch of prisoners; stopping settlement activity including in Jerusalem; and the implementation of Israel’s obligations to return to the negotiating table.

Erekat said that the Israelis rejected the Palestinian’s demands, adding that Israel seeks to present its policy to the US Congress in a way to suggest that it is the Palestinians who are refusing to return to negotiations.

(MEMO)