Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud AbbasHadas Parush/Flash 90

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas called on the UN Security Council on Wednesday to reject a key report by the diplomatic Quartet that condemned both Israeli building in Judea and Samaria, and Palestinian incitement to violence.

The report published last Friday by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States was criticised by both Israel and the PA as being unfair.

The report is due to be presented for discussion at the UN Security Council in the coming weeks, though a date has not yet been set.

Abbas said in a statement on Wednesday the report "does not further the cause for peace."

"We hope that the Security Council does not support this report," he added.

Palestine Liberation Organization secretary general Saeb Erekat has condemned what he called an "attempt to equalize the responsibilities between people under occupation and the foreign military occupier."

The report's findings and recommendations are supposed to serve as the basis for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that has been comatose since a US initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also rejected the report, calling it a "myth" that building in Judea and Samaria is an obstacle to peace.  

There was no formal response from the Quartet but a source involved with the report said Wednesday there were positives to be drawn from the responses.

"If both president Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu find the report disturbing, then the report must contain some truths that both are uncomfortable with," he said.

A PA official said they would no longer deal with the Quartet as a body, but would continue to work with its four members individually.

"It's not only about the report, it's more than that - but the report confirms how useless (the Quartet) is," the official said.

AFP contributed this report.