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Israel announces freeze on settlements

Jerusalem: In a bid to kickstart stalled peace talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a ten-month moratorium on new constructions in West Bank settlements, but failed to impress Palestinians who demanded a complete halt to such activities. "This is not an easy step. It is a painful step, but we are taking it out of broad national security considerations with the goal of renewing negotiations to achieve peace with our neighbours, the Palestinians," Netanyahu said at a press conference yesterday here after a meeting of the security cabinet approved his proposal. "I hope that this decision will help launch meaningful negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that would finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians," the Israeli premier added. International pressure has been mounting on Israel to put an end on construction activities which has weakened West's Palestinian ally President Mahmoud Abbas in his political fight against Islamist Hamas. "We have been told by many of our friends that once Israel takes the first meaningful steps toward peace, the Palestinians and Arab states would respond," Netanyahu stressed much to the displeasure of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which feel the move fails to satisfy their demands to restart peace negotiations.

                                                                                                               
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