Abbas insists on talks despite massacre

RAMALLAH, — An aide of the PA de facto President, Mahmoud Abbas, has defended the PA’s decision to continue talks with Israel despite the massacre that was committed by the Israeli army and navy against peace activists on the Freedom Flotilla.

Abdullah al-Efranji, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said that halting the indirect negotiations with the Israelis in response to the Israeli massacre is not effective and claimed that the present talks are with the American side and not the Israeli side.

He told Quds Press that halting the negotiations will not help in holding Israel completely responsible for the massacre it has committed against the Freedom Flotilla which was trying to break the siege on the Gaza Strip, adding that the PA did not want to give Israeli an excuse to evade that responsibility by halting the indirect negotiations.