Israel has failed to release the last group of Palestinian prisoners while Palestinian President Abbas signed a applications to join 15 United Nations conventions. It’s unclear how the Middle East peace talks can continue.
As the TV cameras rolled, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sat down and signed applications to join several United Nations international conventions. The move put the latest round of Middle East peace talks into an even deeper crisis. On March 29, Israel let the deadline pass for the release of a final group of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners.
The Palestinian leadership responded by warning of consequences, because the release of the a total of 104 prisoners had been agreed as a “trust-building measure.” In return the Palestinians said they would take no unilateral steps at UN organizations. Abbas declared that since the deadline had now passed, the Palestinian Territories no longer felt bound to that agreement.
