A senior Palestinian official has given a damning assessment of peace talks with Israel, calling the current round of negotiations pointless.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas, told Voice of Palestine radio:
"These negotiations are futile and won't lead to any results,"
"I don't expect any progress at all unless there is huge and powerful American pressure, such as the one we are seeing from America to deal with the Syrian issue,"
"Israel did not commit to stopping settlements and we see the continuation of the settlement policy as destroying any possible chance of (a deal),"
See Reuters for full report.