http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050948.html

Last update - 13:02 29/12/2008
Top PA negotiator: No peace talks with Israel during Gaza assault
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies

Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel have been put on hold, citing the Israel Air Force's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"There are no negotiations and there is no way there could be negotiations while there are attacks against us," Qureia told reporters.

The moves comes one day after a Syrian government official said that Damascus has decided to suspend its indirect peace talks with Israel, in the wake of the mass offensive Israel launched in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, which left more than 300 Palestinians dead and scores more wounded.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said "Israel's aggression closes all the doors to any move toward a settlement in the region."

Israel and Syria held four rounds of indirect negotiations, mediated by Turkey, after the peace talks were launched in May. The talks were suspended when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced he would step down earlier this year.