RAMALLAH — Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are proving pointless and will not bear fruit without much greater pressure from Washington, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday. In the most damning Palestinian assessment to date, Yasser Abed Rabbo said that the negotiations, which kicked off in late July after a three year hiatus, had made no progress. "These negotiations are futile and won't lead to any results," Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio. "I don't expect any progress at all unless there is huge and powerful American pressure, such as the one we are seeing from America to deal with the Syrian issue," added Abed Rabbo, one of just two officials authorized by Abbas to discuss the talks. An Israeli official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the remarks, saying the two sides had agreed that only the United States should speak about the talks. "We are abiding by that agreement," the official said. The US State Department said Israeli and Palestinian delegations had been meeting continuously since direct talks resumed on July 29, adding that a US envoy had taken part in one of the encounters. US Secretary of State John Kerry has given the two sides nine months to work out their differences, with meetings going on in both occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. Little information has leaked about the focus of the initial talks, but Abed Rabbo said continued Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on land the Palestinians want for their future state, had undermined the negotiations. "Israel did not commit to stopping settlements and we see the continuation of the settlement policy as destroying any possible chance of (a deal)," he said. Israel announced tenders for, or advanced the planning process on about 3,100 housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem last month. It brushed off Palestinian anger, saying the homes were destined for well-established settlements that it expected to keep as part of any final accord. In a message marking the Jewish New Year, Netanyahu said Wednesday that he wanted "real and enduring peace ... not an agreement that we celebrate for two minutes and then collapses". "This must be anchored on recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and on our security. This is what ultimately is needed." Both Netanyahu and Abbas are due to meet Kerry separately in Europe in the coming week to discuss the negotiations. Gas masks Israel must provide Palestinians living in the occupied territories with gas masks, a Palestinian official has said, in the event of a spillover of violence from Syria. Israel has been distributing gas masks to its citizens over the last two weeks amid fears of reprisals against the Jewish state, following anticipated US military intervention in neighbouring Syria. “If there is any war in the region, the responsibility (for ensuring Palestinians civilians are prepared) falls upon Israel, because it is the occupying authority,” Palestinian Authority security services spokesman Adnan Al-Dumayri said. “Israel must provide to all citizens living under its occupation the necessary security equipment, be that gas masks or other items, especially if Israel gets into a war we have no connection with.” He said: “We are living under occupation, we have no sovereignty over our borders (in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), and we can't import gas masks.” — Agencies
