Abbas to Launch 6 month initiative to resume talks with Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will launch a new initiative to resume negotiations with Israel that include the demand to release prisoners and a call to cease settlement construction. According to The Jerusalem Post newspaper, President Abbas said that only a full six-month settlement freeze, including Jewish building in east Jerusalem, could push ahead negotiations. He also added, "We want to discuss a mechanism that would lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian and Arab territories, including Jerusalem, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and halting settlement construction." "If this happens, there could be feasible negotiations. Also, we could return from point zero," said Abbas it's worth mentioning that after the UN General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state last month, Israel immediately announced that in response for what it deemed the "unilateral" move, it will construct 3,000 new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as with plans to build in the contested E-1 corridor, which links Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim.