The Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet has reiterated that if there is no freeze on illegal settlements, the peace talks will not be resumed.

In a statement issued after a session on Monday, the Ramallah-based cabinet said that “progress in the peace process requires a comprehensive cessation of all illegal Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem [Al-Quds].”

“The full freeze of settlement activities includes proclaimed natural growth,” the cabinet statement added.

“It also requires Israeli abstention from provocative measures such as arrests, assassinations and invasion of Palestinian areas and stopping illegal measures and practices in Jerusalem [Al-Quds],” it noted.

A settlement freeze is a necessity, the ministers said, “to create a clear framework of reference for a peace process, that includes specific timelines and all permanent status issues and to ensure the implementation of international resolutions, ending the Israeli occupation.”

The Palestinian Authority cabinet also said Israel is creating obstacles to the peace process through settlement expansion and excavations near Jerusalem Al-Quds’ holy sites and under the Jerusalem Al-Quds neighborhood of Silwan.

(Press TV)