RAMALLAH //Senior Palestinian officials expressed wariness yesterday at the prospect of renewed peace talks with Israel, which they said would not succeed without a freeze on Jewish settlement construction and acceptance of that borders that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, announced in Jordan late on Friday that he had established a basis for new talks. He said Palestinian and Israeli negotiators would meet in Washington this week to pave the way for a resumption of direct negotiations.
In response, the Israeli intelligence minister Yuval Steinitz said that as a gesture Israel would release a limited number of the estimated 4,713 Palestinians in Israeli jails, including what he called "heavyweights".
Mr Kerry's statement on Friday capped months of intense diplomacy during which he visited the region six times and won Arab League support for a new round of talks, which broke down in 2010 over the issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Palestinian leaders sought yesterday to rein in expectations for any imminent breakthrough on so-called final status issues - the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem, as well as the borders and settlements.
A senior aide to the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinian conditions for a resumption of talks - a settlement freeze and acceptance of pre-1967 borders as a basis for negotiations - had not been met and remained to be resolved during this week's talks in Washington.
"This was not a decision to go to talks - this was a decision to form a basis for talks," the aide said.
Other Palestinian officials emphasised that Mr Abbas had a limited mandate to enter talks.
"Look, Abbas was able to agree to what Kerry wanted because he did not agree to formal negotiations, which would have required a decision from the leadership," said an official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
The official also said that Mr Abbas's agreement to send a Palestinian representative to the Washington talks has put the Palestinians in a precarious position.
"What he did has not made people happy at all, and it is setting us up to be demonised if Kerry's efforts fail," the official said.
For the Palestinians, any talks with the Israelis pose the risk of coming away from the table empty-handed and, worse, being blamed internationally for their failure.
Moreover, the leadership in Ramallah has been criticised by other Palestinians in the past for offering concessions to the Israelis during negotiations that were not reflected in their public statements.
Hamas took the lead yesterday in publicly rebuking the Palestinian president, calling the talks part of Mr Abbas's "march of conceding the rights" of Palestinians. The Islamist movement, which has long opposed peace talks, officially calls for Israel's destruction.
Some factions within the PLO, which Mr Abbas heads, also criticised the decision to go to Washington. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine called it "political suicide".
An official close to Mr Abbas was taken aback by the Palestinian president's decision to accept Mr Kerry's proposal after a meeting with the US secretary of state in Ramallah on Friday night.
"I think most people in the meeting were a bit surprised and taken aback because they are not in favour of this, and they know that public opinion is certainly not in favour of this," the official said.
hnaylor@thenational.ae
Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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