By Xinhua
Ramallah : The Palestinian Presidency announced on Wednesday that the Israeli military escalation against the Palestinians and the continuation of settlement activities in the West Bank proved that the Israeli government was not serious in peace talks with the Palestinians.
“The building of settlements must stop and the Israelis must also retreat from the escalation,” said Nabil Abu Rdineh, the spokesman of the presidency, urging the Israeli side to “create the suitable atmosphere for the progress of negotiations.”
Israel killed 19 Palestinians and wounded 25 others in Tuesday’s quick operation in Gaza.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli army shot dead a senior Islamic Jihad commander in West Bank.
“All these Israeli negative procedures don’t help the spirit of Annapolis,” Abu Rdineh told Voice of Palestine radio, referring to the U.S.-hosted peace conference held in November, which relaunched the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
“America and the international community should build pressure on Israel,” Abu Rdineh stressed.
Responding to calls for stopping the negotiations as a protest against the offensive, Abu Rdineh said stopping it “was not a solo Palestinian decision,” as an Arab collective decision to carry out the Arab peace initiative was involved in the talks.