We’ve experienced direct talks, and they were a failure
Direct negotiations with Israel were a failure, and as a result the Palestinians now want to see negotiations go through the UN, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in an interview published on Monday.
“We hope negotiations will be resumed, but within a new framework,” Hamdallah told The Washington Post. And the new framework, he said, should set the end of 2017 as the deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
These terms are expected to be in a resolution to be brought to the United Nations Security Council before September by France and New Zealand.
Hamdallah said that the French initiative was being coordinated with the US. He said if such a resolution was passed – meaning one that defines the final parameters of a deal and sets a timeline – “I’m sure we can go back to negotiations.”
He said that the Palestinians “have certain assurances from the United States that after the Iranian deal, they will resume negotiations between us and the Israelis.”