RAMALLAH, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership is preparing itself to look for alternatives after six meetings of exploratory talks with Israel in Jordan, which was expected to push for the resumption of direct Mideast peace talks, came out in vain.
A well-informed Palestinian official source said that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reiterated during his meeting on Wednesday in Amman with his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Mulkho that the Palestinians would not extend the exploratory meetings in Jordan.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that Israel had not shown any positive stance that contributes to the resumption of the direct talks, adding that Jordan understood the Palestinian stand and requested not to make an official announcement and wait for the international and Arab efforts.
The Palestinians had previously made Jan. 26 an ultimatum for the end of the exploratory meetings, which were launched in the Jordanian capital on Jan. 3. The International Quartet for Mideast Peace, namely the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, had also announced that Jan. 26 would be the end of the meetings to agree on the issues of borders and security.
While Israel had asked to extend the meetings until April, the Palestinians were sticking to ending it on Jan. 26, as the Quartet 's period for the meetings was decided to start in Sept. 26 of 2011 and end within three months.
During the six meetings, the Palestinians renewed their demands in relation to the issues of borders and security, while Israel, in the third meeting, presented to the Palestinian side a document that included 21 points clarifying its position concerning the two permanent status talks issues.
The Palestinians rebuffed the drafted Israeli paper and announced that Israel had not presented in details anything related to the core of the discussion, adding that the Israeli vision concerning the issues of borders and security would undermine the vision of the two-state solution.
The Palestinian leadership had also denied all reports saying that the meetings in Amman were a resumption of the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians which were suspended in October 2010 after Israel refused to freeze settlement activities in the Palestinian territories.
Israel accused the Palestinians of creating various excuses in order to topple the meetings in Amman and not to resume the direct peace negotiations, whereas the Palestinian leadership is still insisting that direct talks would not carry on until Israel completely stops settlement in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Hani al-Masri, director of Bada'el Center for Research and Studies in the West Bank, told Xinhua that the Palestinians had only accepted to go to Amman meetings following the Jordanian pressure on them, adding that "it was their last chance given to Israel and to tell the world who is the party that blocks peace."
"The Palestinian leadership has tried to get innocent and not responsible for the failure of the meetings, and that the manner of negotiations is useless," al-Masri said. "The Palestinian leadership has certainly other alternative choices that will be studied and decided after Jan. 26."
The talks in Amman were a continuation of the proximity talks proposed by the Quartet in September last year in a bid to rescue the remaining opportunities for resuming the direct peace negotiations.
Samir Awad, a political science professor at Beir Zeit University in the West Bank, told Xinhua that "it is obvious that Amman meetings haven't achieved any positive results at all and holding it was only a respect to the Arab and international pressures on the two sides."
"The reasons for the failure of Amman meetings are the same reasons that led to halting the direct peace talks between the two sides, mainly Israel's insistence not to halt settlement activities and accepting the principle of the two-state solution according to 1967 borders," Awad said.
In addition, a lack of confidence between the two sides had grown after Israel decided to impose security restrictions on senior Palestinian officials such as withdrawing the special passes that enable the officials to have a free movement in the West Bank and abroad.
Israel had also strongly opposed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to reconcile with Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip.
One of the most serious alternatives the Palestinians have is to dissolve the Palestinian National Authority. However, such an alternative is linked to finalizing the implementation of an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation pact Abbas and Hamas signed in Cairo last May.
Samih Shbaib, a West Bank-based political analyst, said that the announcement of the Palestinian leadership that it had other alternatives and choices "is clear as they insist that there will be no talks as along as settlement is not stopped and it became ready to announce that the peace process failed."
"An official announcement of the Quartet that the peace process had failed would certainly keep the door open for applying to the international institutions, mainly the United Nations and Security Council. The stage after January will be a new political stage for the Palestinians," Shbaib added.
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