The Israeli government chose the path of settlements instead of peace, Head of the Negotiations Affairs Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat said Wednesday.

Erekat called the Israeli government’s insistence on creating “facts on the ground” only intensifies the deception when its leaders claim they want peace, he told UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robery Serry and US Consul General Daniel Rubenstein in a meeting alongside Greek Consul General Soterios Athanasius.

“If the US administration is unable to make the Israeli government to stop its settlement activities then who will ever believe it will be able convince them to withdraw to the 1967 borders, or solve the issues of the final status?” Erekat asked the officials.

Erekat noted his hopes for the Quartet in pressuring the Israeli government to halt settlement construction including natural growth. “If Israel wants to make peace in the region,” Erekat concluded, “they must know peace and settlement are two parallel lines that do not meet.”