Israeli media say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Palestinian preconditions for talks, which urge Tel Aviv to halt its illegal settlement activities and release Palestinian prisoners.\n<\/p>\n
During a recent conversation with a senior Israeli minister, Netanyahu said he had no intention to declare a settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank or release Palestinian prisoners as preconditions for the talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Tel Aviv regime, Ynet<\/i> reported on Sunday.\n<\/p>\n \u00c5\u201cHe (Netanyahu) ruled it out, and his only goal is to resume negotiations without preconditions,\u201d Ynet<\/i> cited the Israeli minister.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n According to Israeli human rights group B\u00e2\u201e\u00a2Tselem, more than 4,700 Palestinian prisoners, including about 170 administrative detainees, are currently being held in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n The administrative detention implemented against the Palestinian population is a sort of imprisonment without trial or a formal charge, allowing Israeli regime forces to make detentions for up to six months. However, the detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.\n<\/p>\n The Tel Aviv regime continues expanding its illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.\n<\/p>\n More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.\n<\/p>\n On June 26, Israel approved final plans to construct nearly 70 new settler units in East al-Quds.\n<\/p>\n The units will be built in Har Homa, an illegal settlement neighborhood in the southern sector of the city.\n<\/p>\n The settlements are considered illegal by the international community because the territories were captured by Israel and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.\n<\/p>\n The continued expansion of the Israeli settlements has also created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.\n<\/p>\n On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up his four-day tour of al-Quds (Jerusalem), which aimed to revive the so-called Middle East peace process, without any agreement on resuming the Israeli-Palestinian talks.\n<\/p>\n Kerry held meetings with Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and several Israeli officials.\n<\/p>\n \u00c5\u201cWe started out with very wide gaps, and we have narrowed those considerably,\u201d the US secretary of state said.\n<\/p>\n The United States, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has supported the Israeli regime on several occasions by vetoing resolutions against Tel Aviv.\n<\/p>\n YH\/HSN<\/p>\n