Ramallah
RamallahIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Hundreds of people marched in Ramallah on Saturday to protest against the peace negotiations with Israel, reports the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency.

The march was organized by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). At least 1,000 people marched towards the headquarters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the Muqata, chanting slogans against negotiations.

"We are against the negotiations because they don't serve the interests of the Palestinian people," PFLP leader Abdulrahim Malouh told Ma'an.

"We remain with our people's right to return, independence, and self-determination," he added, calling for national unity.

Senior PFLP official Khalida Jarrar told Ma’an the demonstration aimed to send a message that the PLO must stop negotiations.

"We came to deliver a political voice dismissive of the negotiations," she said.

PFLP official Omar Shehadeh criticized a heavy PA police presence at the demonstration, saying it created division between the PA and the people.

Last month hundreds of people in Gaza protested against Israeli-PA peace talks, in marches organized by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.

Marchers set off from mosques across the coastal strip before converging on a square in the middle of Gaza City, with protesters brandishing signs saying "No to negotiations" and slamming Abbas's "political failure."

Israeli and PA negotiators formally resumed direct peace talks in August after a hiatus of nearly three years, thanks to an intense bout of shuttle diplomacy by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.