Palestinians threatened on Saturday to call off peace talks with Israel after
35 Gazans,
at least half of them civilians, were killed in violence that escalated sharply during the day.
| Gaza Strike |
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| Abbas: IDF's Gaza operation worse than a holocaust / Ali Waked and AFP |
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Palestinian president responds to Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai's remark that Palestinians would bring on themselves 'bigger holocaust' by stepping up rocket attacks on Israel. MK Zahalka calls on Abbas to cease negotiations with Israel, 'slam the door' on Prime Minister Olmert |
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Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said Palestinian leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas,
recommended suspending peace talks at a meeting Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
"I think it will be suspended," Qureia said. "What is happening in Gaza is a massacre of civilians,
women and children, a collective killing, genocide," Qureia added.
"We can't bear what the Israelis are doing, and what the Israelis are doing doesn't led the peace process any credibility."
In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry officials were meeting to discuss the violence in Gaza and its implications for the talks.
Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said as far as Israel was concerned, talks are "based on the understanding that when advancing the peace process with pragmatic (Palestinian) sources, Israel will continue to fight terror that hurts its people." Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni leads Israel's peace team.
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