Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he had asked the U.S. to settle his dispute with Israel over settlement expansion, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it could be possible to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in a year.
Abbas told reporters Monday he asked the U.S. to "intervene" in the issue.
Israel's 10-month freeze on new construction in West Bank settlements ends Sept. 26.
Israeli officials have indicated they will not extend the freeze as is, but Abbas has said he'll quit peace talks with Israel unless it is extended.
"You must know that if you do not continue the settlement halt, we will leave these negotiations," the al-Ayyam newspaper quoted Abbas as saying he had told Netanyahu in their talks.
"If the freeze is not extended...there will not be any negotiations," Abbas said.
The dispute is expected to take center stage in talks between Abbas and Netanyahu next week.
Settlements
You must know that if you do not continue the settlement halt, we will leave these negotiations. If the freeze is not extended...there will not be any negotiations
Settlements take up land the Palestinians want for a state. The U.S. re-launched negotiations last week after nearly two years, promising to play an active role.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has told visiting U.S. congressmen he thinks it could be possible to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in a year despite huge differences, his spokesman said.
Netanyahu told the visiting delegation that he "believes it possible, through such direct and contiguous negotiations, held without breaks or delays, to achieve a peace agreement within a year", spokesman Nir Hefez said late Monday.
Netanyahu said he thought a goal of the Quartet of Middle East power brokers -- the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia -- to agree on the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, was attainable, Hefez added.
The next round of Israeli, Palestinian negotiations was scheduled for Sept. 14 in Egypt, followed by a session expected on the following day, possibly in Jerusalem and in the attendance of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Netanyahu was under pressure from right-wing cabinet ministers to renew construction in occupied land Palestinians seek for a state.
Some officials see a possibility of construction resuming in certain settlement blocs so as to keep the Israeli government intact, though Palestinians have not publicly said they agreed.
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