BELGRADE, Serbia
Peace talks cannot be restarted unless Israel halts the expansion of settlements on Palestinian territory, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to Serbian capital Belgrade, Abbas said: “Israeli settlement activity in our territories must stop to renew the negotiations... This is a legitimate demand and whole world respects it.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called for a resumption of talks "without preconditions".
Abbas, who is visiting Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, also demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians began in July 2013 after the intervention of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. They collapsed in April last year and since then Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip that left more than 2,160 Palestinians dead.
