Jerusalem (CNN) -- Palestinian leaders said Sunday that they will not proceed with peace talks with Israel unless the Jewish state completely halts settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"If there is no complete halt to settlement building on all Palestinian land including Jerusalem, we will not accept it," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday.
But Israeli settlers who are opposed to a freeze on construction demonstrated in Jerusalem Sunday.
About 5,000 people protested for two hours, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
The protest was "the first move in an upcoming struggle," said Benny Katzover, a settler leader in the West Bank.
The demonstration was to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to stop giving in to pressure and guard the State of Israel," Katzover told CNN.
Last week, an Israeli government source said Netanyahu was insisting on a number of conditions for a settlement freeze -- including that such a the freeze would expire in 90 days -- before presenting a agreement to resume peace talks to his cabinet.
The United States is committed to enticing Israeli and Palestinian leaders back into peace talks, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu's office said that discussions about Jerusalem's territory should also be off the table for the talks. "The Israeli position has been clear all along that building in Jerusalem was, is and will continue," the office said in a statement.
The statement came a week after Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of Secretary Hillary Clinton and as details emerged of an American proposal to coax Israel back to negotiations with the Palestinians.
CNN
