The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday denied Israeli media reports that it had retreated from its decision to outlaw the work of Palestinians in Jewish settlements, Xinhua reported.
"These reports have no origin," said Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank. The law that bans settlements' produce in the Palestinian markets and prevents the Palestinians from working in the settlements "is still valid," he told Xinhua.
The PNA is gradually stopping its people from working in the settlements "to avoid harming them and to contain them in projects by the Palestinian government and the private sector," Al-Khatib added.
Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that the PNA lifted the ban after it failed to find alternative opportunities for the workers.
About 40,000 Palestinians work in the Jewish settlements, 20 percent of them in settlements inside the occupied West Bank.
In 2009, the PNA launched a campaign to boycott products of the settlements in the West Bank, as part of nonviolent resistance that the PNA supports.
In September, Israel resumed construction in the West Bank settlements after a 10-month moratorium, causing U.S.-brokered peace talks to collapse.
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