Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday he is ready for a dialogue with Israel if it frees Palestinian prisoners taken before the 1993 Oslo peace accord.

Speaking aboard a plane after talks in Paris, Abbas laid out his requirements to resume the comprehensive peace talks which stalled in September 2010: An end to Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territories, and the recognition of the 1967 borders as a starting point.

He said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to free all 123 Palestinians detained by Israel since before the 1993 Oslo accord, adding that their release had been agreed “but Israel has not honored its commitment.”

“If it frees these prisoners, there could be a meeting with Mr. Netanyahu for a session of dialogue but that doesn’t mean negotiations,” the Palestinian leader said.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN said that Israel’s new surge in settlement building in the Palestinian territories is destroying hopes for any return to peace talks.

The city of Jerusalem is seeking to expand the settlement of Gilo beyond annexed east Jerusalem. Israel also announced plans to add hundreds of new settlement homes elsewhere in the occupied West Bank.