In an interview with the Times of Israel, Abbas said he is pausing the Palestinians’ unilateral push for international recognition in order to give recent diplomatic efforts more time to develop.

Last week, Abbas met with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel’s top negotiator in the recently collapsed peace talks, in London. Abbas called the meeting “positive” and told Livni that a new Palestinian unity government would abide by the principles that the Palestinian Authority recognizes—including recognition of Israel, previous peace agreements, and rejection of violence.

Hamas’s leadership, however, has said it will not recognize those principles.