Palestinians not to give in to U.S. pressure: official
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The Palestinian leadership will not give in to the U.S. pressure to start face-to-face talks unless Israel meets its peace commitments, an official said on Monday.
"The U.S. should realize that its pressure would not help since the leadership gives the priority to the national Palestinian interests," Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told Voice of Palestine radio.
She added that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the Arab states are still waiting for the U.S. response to their demands of the freeze of Israeli settlements and setting timeline to peace negotiations.
The PLO's executive committee is expected to meet on Monday in Ramallah to discuss the U.S. call to jump to direct negotiations with Israel after an Arab peace committee endorsed last week the PNA to start direct talks.
The U.S. has been pressuring the PNA to go to direct talks with Israel to push forward the stalled peace process.
Direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis stopped when the Jewish state launched a major offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December 2008.
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