RAMALLAH, Palestine - The United States is "fully responsible" for blocking any horizon to resume the stalled peace process in the Middle East, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said on Saturday.
Commenting on the Israeli escalation of settlement expansion in the West Bank, Ahmed Majdalani, a PLO executive committee member, said that the peace process with Israel "has entered a state of coma for several years."
"Israel seeks to address the conflict with the Palestinians through settlements and impose a fait accompli on the ground," Majdalani told "Voice of Palestine," a radio station based in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
He added that "the Israeli leadership is adopting a fixed strategic policy to undermine the two-state solution and the resumption of the peace process and peace talks."
He added that the United States "has always been complicit and even a partner with the Israeli occupation and has always provided political and diplomatic protection and sponsorship to Israel."
"Restoring Palestinian unity and ending the internal Palestinian division that has weakened the Palestinian position everywhere would give the Palestinian side strength to face the challenges in the Palestinian cause," Majdalani added.
Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stopped in 2014 following deep disputes on Israeli settlements and establishing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. - XINHUA