Israel will bear responsibility for talks’ failure, warns Abbas

Palestinian authorities’ position over construction of settlements in West Bank hasn’t changed and they continue considering it illegal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a televised address to Palestinians on the occasion of renewal of direct talks with Israel.

“The Israeli government holds full responsibility for the failure and the collapse of these negotiations if it continues settlement expansion in all its forms in all the Palestinian lands occupied since 1967,” he said.

Abbas also added: "We hope that we can find in Israel a partner capable of taking fundamental and responsible decisions toward ending the occupation and guaranteeing true security for the Palestinian and Israeli people."