RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- A Fatah-affiliated official said that Mahmoud Abbas and the international quartet are waiting for Israel's approval to engage in direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) before the quartet issues its statement and declares the launch of talks.
The Fatah official told the German news agency on condition of anonymity that the quartet's statement would determine the authority of negotiation, its agenda and duration, and would demand Israel to halt its settlement activities.
He said that the executive committee of the Palestine liberation organization would hold a meeting in the coming hours to make its mind up about the direct talks with Israel in light of the statement that would be issued by the quartet.
Catherine Ashton, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, had said that a statement would be issued by the international quartet early next week if both parties agreed to proceed to direct talks.
She said that the quartet's statement would ask Israel to halt all settlement activities in the West Bank and east occupied Jerusalem, and reach a full peace agreement with the PA within 24 months on the basis of 1967 borders.
For its part, the Hamas Movement commented on the quartet's intention to issue a statement on the direct talks between the PA and Israel and reiterated that Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people and thus can never impose any agreement on them.
Spokesman for Hamas's parliamentary bloc Mushir Al-Masri told Quds Press on Saturday that without Abbas's panting for talks with Israel and his defeatist spirit, the Arabs had not given him any cover in this regard and thus the international quartet would have not inclined and pressured toward the direct talks after the indirect talks proved failure.
Masri held Abbas and his entourage fully responsible for the grave results that would come from his direct talks with Israel.
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