Israel and the Palestinians stand together at a crossroads to decide on achieving progress in the stalled Middle East peace process, while disputes over the issue of settlement freeze may lead to a complete collapse of the direct talks started in Washington four weeks ago.

Amid such a situation, and after deciding to suspend the direct peace talks with Israel on Saturday, the Palestinian leadership began to look for political alternatives to move forwards, while Palestinian observers said looking for alternatives would include risks.

The Palestinians said Saturday that they suspended the U.S- sponsored direct peace negotiations with Israel after the Israeli government had decided not to extend a 10-month moratorium to freeze settlement construction in the Palestinian territories, which expired on Sept. 26.

Despite the ongoing U.S. contacts with Israel and the Palestinians, in a bid to find a middle-ground compromise, the Palestinians said that the U.S. efforts would not succeed. However, a Palestinian source said the Palestinians haven't decided yet on when the talks will resume.

The source said the Palestinian leadership kept the door open for the U.S. efforts until Friday, adding that it nominated a committee to study the possible options, mainly applying to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and finalize the internal Palestinian reconciliation.

Committee formed to draft options

The Palestinian committee, according to the source, would prepare its recommendation and hand it to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who would present it to the Arab League (AL) following up committee which is scheduled to convene in the Libyan city of Sirte this weekend.

Palestinian analysts and observers said they believed the available options for the Palestinian leadership "are narrow and difficult," despite the weakness of the Palestinian internal situation as well as the current Arab and international positions.

According to analysts, among these options is Abbas' resignation and the dismantle of the Palestinian National Authority.

Meanwhile, officials close to Abbas voiced disappointment and pessimism towards Abbas' sudden resignation and the dismantle of the PNA. They are also not satisfied with the consequences of the peace talks, mainly the collapse of the PNA, which was established according to a historic peace agreement signed with Israel in 1993 as a transitional stage to end up with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

They also said that Abbas had revealed to his aids after he returned from New York last week that he was not optimistic and he might go for hard decisive and fatal decisions. The resignation of Abbas and the collapse of the PNA may bring a heavy wave of violence.