Abbas calls for settlement halt, return to peace talks

NEW YORK: Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas called on Friday for a halt to settlement construction and a return to peace talks with Israel, after the Jewish state confirmed plans to build 3,000 new settler homes.

"I've said a thousand times that we want to resume negotiations and we are ready to do it," Abbas told reporters in New York, speaking shortly after the Palestinians won recognition as a non-member state at the United Nations.

"We are not setting any condition but there are at least 15 UN resolutions which consider settlement activity as illegal and an obstacle to peace which must be removed," he said.