Levy resignation 'internal affair', say Palestinians

Palestinian officials said on Monday that the resignation of Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy was an Israeli matter.

"True, it is an internal Israeli affair and the Israeli minister's resignation was for Israeli domestic, economic, and social reasons.

"Undoubtedly, however, an Israeli minister is resigning because he feels that the Israeli Government's obstruction of the peace process does not only harm to the Palestinian people, but also to Israeli interests," Planning Minister Nabil Sha'th said in comments broadcast by Palestinian radio.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Sa'ib Urayqat also commented on Levy's resignation.

"This is a domestic Israeli affair. We want the Israeli Government to abide by the peace process. Based on past experience, we fear that Netanyahu may exploit the crisis to increase his settlement activity, confiscate more land, and demolish more houses in an attempt to please the Israeli extremists," Urayqat told the radio.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.