Palestinian Authority to collapse if peace talks fail: official

Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-2-17 18:42:44

A Palestinian official warned on Monday that the failure of the current Palestinian-Israeli peace talks will lead to the collapse of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

"The failure of negotiations means that things will go back to zero point," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erikat told the official Voice of Palestine radio.

"This may lead Israel to reoccupy the Palestinian territories and thus the PNA will collapse," he said, adding that the PNA will approach the international organizations including the International Criminal Court (ICC) to sue the state of Israel if the talks do not succeed.

It is the first time a Palestinian official warns of a possible collapse of the PNA if the US-backed negotiations fail.

Palestinian and Israeli officials have announced recently that the peace discussions, which started last July and are set to end this April, have made no tangible progress.

Meanwhile, Erikat criticized the stance of Gaza-ruling Hamas movement which rejects the deployment of international forces in a future Palestinian state under a peace deal with Israel.

"Hamas' stance serves the Israeli interests to keep their troops in the future Palestinian state," he said.

On Friday, Hamas announced it would treat any international military presence operating within a future Palestinian state as an occupying power.

Posted in: Mid-East

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