RAMALLAH, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday said the United States failed to bridge the partition between Israel and the Palestinians over stalled peace process.

    The recent U.S. bilateral discussions between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Israel "did not succeed in bringing the positions of the two sides closer to resume the peace negotiations," Abbas said in a session for the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

    The negotiations have stopped when Israel started a military offensive in Gaza last winter and Abbas refused to renew them because Israeli hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took office in early April, did not stop settlement expansions on occupied Palestinian territories.

    Meanwhile, Abbas said the Palestinians want a full suspension of the settlement activities in their territories including Jerusalem. "This is not a Palestinian condition, this is an Israeli commitment in the Road Map peace plan," Abbas added, referring to the U.S. plan which envisions two-state solution.

    Abbas also said that the PNA rejects Israeli proposals "talking about a Palestinian statehood with provisional boundaries."

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts