Ramallah - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he is ready for peace negotiations with Israel to end the Middle East conflict.
In a brief speech aired on local Palestinian television and radio stations to mark the 18th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, Abbas called on Israelis "not to waste the chance of peace."
"I declare our full readiness for serious negotiations to put an end to decades of conflict and bloodshed," he said, adding peace would not be achieved without a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Contrary to previous years, no celebrations were held anywhere in the West Bank or Gaza to mark the anniversary.
Late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat issued the unilateral declaration of independence in Algiers on November 15, 1988, but it failed to materialize into a de-facto independent Palestinian state in the territories occupied by Israel after 1967.