(VOVworld)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has turned his back on peace after the Fatah leader warned that peace negotiations cannot resume without an Israeli settlement freeze. Mr. Netanyahu made the statement after Mr. Abbas posed on Sunday an ultimatum saying that if Netanyahu would not agree to freeze all construction in the settlements and agree to negotiate based on 1967 borders, the Palestinian Authority will renew its unilateral efforts to obtain statehood in the United Nations.
In another development, Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Sunday supported a Palestinian request for an international peace conference aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The statement stressed the importance of holding an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue to seek "an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and to reach a comprehensive solution to the issues of borders, security, Jerusalem and refugees based on the Arab peace initiative."