'Abbas did not reject talks based on two-state solution'

The Palestinian Authority insisted on Friday that President Mahmoud Abbas has never rejected any talks based on the principle of a two-state solution, agencies have reported. The comment was made in response to remarks by a senior US official, who claimed that Abbas has refused to return to negotiations.

“These claims are irresponsible and incitement,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the PA Presidency. “We stick to the serious negotiations which lead to the establishment of the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.”

When asked about talks, Abu Rudeineh pointed out that the Israelis need to believe in negotiations and the two-state solution, not in diktats, stating:

When we asked for a new international mechanism for the talks, this did not mean that we had given up our commitment to talks as a means to achieve peace with Israel.

Mass media reports cited the unnamed US official accusing the Palestinians of rejecting talks with the Israeli occupation authorities. He also stressed that the new US peace plan had not been proposed yet.

On 6 December, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, pushing the PA to reject America’s sponsorship of the peace process.

Read: Security cooperation with Israel is ‘continuous’, says Abbas