Palestinian official: serious negotiations, actions needed from Israel, not only words

Palestinian Spokesperson of Presidency, Nabil abu Rdaina, said today that any political negotiation with Israel must depend on international legitimacy.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said that Israel is willing to release many Palestinian prisoners, even those of lengthy terms, in a prisoner swap with seized soldier, Gilad Shalit.

According to Israeli Haaretz Newspaper, Olmert, speaking at the grave of Israel's first premier, David Ben-Gurion, said that he was extending his hand in peace to the Palestinians, and that he hoped it would not remain unanswered.

Olmert also called on the Palestinians to renounce violence and give up the insistence on the refugees' right of return to territory within Israel's borders, which has long been a major sticking point in peace negotiations.

"If the Palestinians did decide to choose peace talks, Olmert promised, Israel would quit large swathes of the West Bank, ease checkpoints and release frozen funds to Palestinians," according to Haaretz.

"We will agree to leave large territories and dismantle settlements that we established," he said. "We will be willing to do this in exchange for real peace."

"We cannot change the past and we will not be able to bring back the victims on both sides of the borders," he said. "All that we have in our hands to do today is to stop additional tragedies.

Commenting of Olmert's remarks, abu Rdaina said that "what we need is a serious negotiations and actions not only words," referring that the we want negotiations based on international legitimacy through implementing Road Map peace plan and Arab peace initiative.

He affirmed that the only way to peace and stability is through establishing a Palestinian independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, implementing the Arab peace initiative and reaching a just solution to the refugees issue based on resolution No.194.