A Palestinian official denied Monday that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) had received offers to jump to direct talks with Israel in exchange for settlement freeze in the West Bank.
"We have no idea about such offers," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Xinhua.
The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Monday that the U.S. administration demanded the PNA to go for direct talks with Israel. In return, it would guarantee the extension of an earlier Israeli decision to freeze settlement activities in the West Bank for 10 months.
"We can't shift to direct negotiations without achieving any progress in the indirect talks," Erekat stressed.
In May, the U.S. mediated Palestinian-Israeli indirect talks that aimed at bringing the two sides together to resume direct negotiations that stopped in 2008.
The proximity talks, expected to last for four months, focus on the borders of the future Palestinian statehood and issues related to security.