Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and faction leaders agreed Sunday to 10 days of intensive talks aimed at resolving key differences and avoiding a national referendum on recognizing Israel's right to exist. If no agreement is reached during the 10-day talks, Abbas said he will call a referendum on the proposal.
Abbas adviser Yasser Abed Rabbo told the AP that as of Monday, representatives would meet in Ramallah and Gaza twice daily over 10 days to come up with a formula to secure international support and revive Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. "Ten days starting tomorrow is enough, after which I will have no option but to return to the Palestinian people to carry out a referendum," Abed Rabbo quoted Abbas as telling Sunday's preliminary meeting at his Ramallah headquarters.
Abbas met some two dozen officials of the factions behind closed doors for three hours to discuss the document, drawn up by Palestinian leaders held in Israeli jails.
Abbas said failure to find a way out of the current deadlock would push the Palestinians deeper still into economic and social crisis. "We must protect our nation and our society from a collapse," he said, adding: "We have to forget about ourselves, about our factions, about our sons and take care of the national problems and issues."
A senior Hamas official at the meeting told Reuters some progress had been made. "There is an atmosphere of optimism, we hope to reach positive results," Deputy Prime Minister Nasser A-Shaher of Hamas told reporters.
