A meeting between senior Israeli and Palestinian officials that was due to be held late Monday has been canceled at the request of the Israeli side, the head of the Palestinian parliament Ahmed Qorei told AFP.
"The Israeli side asked to cancel the meeting that was supposed to be held this afternoon, even though the time is limited," said Qorei.
"We consider this an Israeli escape from the negotiations and we hold them responsible for wasting time," he added.
An Israeli senior source told Haaretz newspaper that the meeting was cancelled in protest over the killing of a Jewish settler in the Gaza Strip.
The settler was found dead the day after he went missing in the southern Gaza Strip
The body of Rony Tzalah, 32, was recovered from a field in the Palestinian autonomous town of Khan Younes after a massive search, reported Haaretz.
According to preliminary investigations, he had been kidnapped Sunday by three or four Palestinians who stole his car and killed him inside the vehicle before disposing of the body, said the paper.
The settler had disappeared while working in a greenhouse near the Kfar Yam settlement.
His car was later abandoned and set alight by masked men, Palestinian sources said.
Israeli cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, meanwhile, said the settler might have been killed at the order of top officials of the Palestinian Authority, according to Haaretz.
"I can assume that this was not a criminal act, but was a murder carried out against a (Palestinian) nationalist background," Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio.
"I don't know if it was (Gaza Palestinian Preventative Security chief) Mohammed Dahlan or if it was (Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser) Arafat - one thing is clear: a murder like this cannot be committed without an instruction from above."
"We see the Palestinian Authority as responsible. They have to use the authority they have to stop the violence," the Israeli source told Haaretz.
Following the settler's death, the Israeli army re-imposed a total clampdown on the Gaza Strip - Albawaba.com
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