’Israel’, PA Negotiators Meet As Tel Aviv to Build 2,129 Settler Units

Local Editor

"Israeli" and Palestinian Authority negotiators met late Wednesday in Occupied al-Quds for a new round of direct talks.

There was no confirmation from "Israeli" or Palestinian officials who were maintaining a news blackout on details of the encounter.

Palestinian officials had earlier stated that negotiators would meet in the the so-called King David hotel, but "Israeli" reports did not name the location.
The meeting was being overshadowed by "Israeli" plans to build thousands of new settlements.

This comes as the Zionist entity freed 26 Palestinian detainees on Wednesday but also pledged to keep up the pace of settlement building on the occupied Palestinian land.
Those released from jail were the first batch of 104 detainees, most of whom had been serving life terms.

But as Palestinians celebrated the releases, Settling Minister Uri Ariel cast a pall over proceedings.
"We will build thousands of outposts in the coming year in "Judaea and Samaria"," Ariel told public radio, referring to the West Bank.
"No one dictates where we can build... This is just the first course," he added, hinting at more building to come.
He further announced plans this week to push on with 2,129 new settler units - the vast majority in occupied East al-Quds.

In a bid to calm the Palestinian wrath over the "Israeli" announcement, Kerry phoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas late on Tuesday.

"Israel's" War Minister Moshe Yaalon was also less than optimistic.
"We set ourselves nine months in which to try and reach something with the Palestinians - we've been trying for 20 years since Oslo," he said, referring to so-called "peace" accords signed in September 1993.
"A note of skepticism might be detected in my words but we decided to give the negotiations a chance," he said.
On the Palestinian side, Hamas denounced Abbas' agreeing to enter talks with "Israel".

"It is a national crime which will have serious consequences for our people and their rights and unity," said spokesman Fawzi Barhum.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team