Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday said the resumption of peace talks with Israel requires the complete halting of Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem.

"Without this, we will not return to the negotiations," Abbas told thousands of Palestinians who gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah to mark the fifth anniversary of late leader Yasser Arafat.

"Israel continues looting our land, building settlements, demolishing our houses, arresting people and constantly making Jerusalem Jewish, and at the end we hear demands to resume the negotiations," Abbas said.

Abbas' words came after the call by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to restart the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations without preconditions.

He added that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has carried out all its obligations under the Road Map peace plan, but Israel failed its commitment.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2009)