PLO holds Israel responsible for Mideast peace failure

A senior Palestinian official Friday held Israel responsible for the failure of the Middle East peace process due to the Jewish state's measures and practices on the ground.

Saeb Erekat, the official in Palestine Liberation Organization and a veteran negotiator, said in an official press statement that the Israeli government was fully responsible for the current deterioration and the collapse of peace, Xinhua reported.

Tension grew in the Palestinian territories between Israel and the Palestinians, especially in East Jerusalem after the Israeli police killed a resident of the city who was involved in the murder of an Israeli rabbi.

"The ongoing tension in the Palestinian territories is the main direct result of the endless settlement activities, imposing facts on the ground, the attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque and seizing land and homes of the Palestinians," said Erekat.

The US-sponsored direct peace talks stalled in March last year after it went on for nine months. Nothing tangible was achieved due to differences over the issue of settlement and the violations in Jerusalem.

"The only thing Israel seeks for now is to undermine the choice of the two-state solution and impose an apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territories," he added.

He insisted that the peace process had collapsed due to all these measures, adding that the Palestinian side has its political plan to go to the UN Security Council to demand an end of the Israeli military occupation that has been going on for years.