RAMALLAH, Sept. 18, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hints at stepping down from office in case direct negotiations with Israel was aborted, an official from Abbas's Fat'h party revealed on Saturday.

A member of Fat'h Central Committee, Jamal Muhaissen, told Xinhua that Abbas informed Fatah leadership and the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that he was planning "a serious step" if the negotiations failed.

The current situation, in which Israel is unlikely to renew a partial freeze on the illegal Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank, would force Abbas to take that decision, Muhaissen added.

He stressed that he believes that Abbas would not surprise the Central Committee by stepping down and that "he would not abandon his responsibilities in light of the very complicated Palestinian situation."

"Eventually, Fatah will not stop at one person, and it has its options if President Abbas clings to this option", Muhaissen said.

Abbas accepted a U.S. proposal for resuming direct peace talks with Israel and the talks kicked off on September 2 after they had been stalled for almost 15 months.

The United States said a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians could be achieved in one year.

However, Palestinian Islamic and leftist parties showed opposition to these talks.

Muhaissen was pessimistic from the path of the direct negotiations with Israel, saying that "the gap is still vast between the two sides."

"we seek to end the Israeli occupation to our land and obtain our rights and national constants through negotiations, yet Israel is not ready for peace and insists to boost its occupation through settlement construction and its call for a Jewish state."

The Palestinians and the Israelis held three rounds of talks by U.S. sponsorship in the Washington, Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Shaikh in Egypt and Jerusalem, however, neither Israel nor the Palestinians announced a breakthrough over any of the controversial issues, on top of which is the issue of settlement construction.

Later this week, President Abbas is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on the sidelines of the 65th UN General Assembly meetings.

Clinton meets Abbas in Ramallah

RAMALLAH, Sept. 16, 2010 (Xinhua) --

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah Thursday to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The meeting is part of intensive discussions between Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. officials in the past two days in the region.

An official from President Abbas' office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Abbas and Clinton will dedicate their talks to pushing forward the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations earlier this month.

Clinton sponsored two meetings between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh and Jerusalem amid differences between the two sides over a partial moratorium on building Jewish settlements.

The moratorium expires on Sept. 26 and Abbas promised to walk away from talks if Israel doesn't extend the freeze.

The official said that neither Abbas nor Clinton would talk to the press before the U.S. foreign policy representative leaves for Jordan to see King Abdullah II.