By AFP
Al Arabiya, United Nations, 24 September 2011
The Palestinians on Friday urged Israel to seize the opportunity offered by the Quartet’s latest peace blueprint, while an Israeli official said the Jewish state was studying the proposal.

“We hope Israel will seize the opportunity offered by the Quartet,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP shortly after the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers − the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States − submitted a new proposal for the sides to reach a deal by the end of 2012.
“We are ready to assume our responsibilities according to the road map and international law, but Israel needs to assume its own and end settlement activity” in the occupied West Bank, he added.

A senior Israeli official said his side was “currently studying the statement.”

The Quartet’s statement came just hours after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas submitted a request to become a full U.N. member state, a move that has angered Israel and the United States.