Peace talks with Israel will continue for the full nine months agreed with Washington "regardless of what happens on the ground", Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says.
He also called for an international probe to determine who killed Yasser Arafat after scientists said it was likely he had been poisoned.
Abbas was speaking in an exclusive interview with AFP at his Muqataa headquarters in Ramallah on Sunday, a day ahead of a key visit by French President Francois Hollande for talks expected to focus on the peace process.
In the interview, he reaffirmed his commitment to push ahead with the US-backed talks, despite a major upset over Israeli settlement building.
"We have committed to continue the negotiations for nine months, regardless of what happens on the ground," he told AFP.
After months of intensive shuttle diplomacy by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israel and the Palestinians finally agreed to begin direct talks in late July with the ambitious aim of reaching an agreement within nine months.
As part of the deal, which brought the two sides back to the table, the Palestinians agreed to suspend all efforts to seek international recognition for the duration of the talks.
Israel agreed to release 104 veteran Palestinian prisoners in stages, and also reportedly agreed to rein in its settlement building.
But over the past three months, Israel has announced plans to build thousands of new settler homes on land the Palestinians want for their future state, sparking a chorus of furious denunciations from Ramallah.
Turning to the mysterious death of Arafat in 2004, Abbas demanded an international inquiry to determine who was responsible for killing him after Swiss laboratory experts suggesting he had been killed by polonium poisoning.
"We have indications that president Yasser Arafat did not die of old age nor of illness but that he died of poisoning," he said, summarising conclusions publicised earlier this month by Swiss and Russian scientists who ran forensic tests on the veteran leader's remains.
"There are indications he was poisoned, so who poisoned him? And who sent the poison? This needs investigation," Abbas said.
Arafat died at the age of 75 in a hospital near Paris on November 11, 2004 after falling sick a month earlier. Doctors were unable to specify the cause of death and no post-mortem was carried out.
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