International   

Palestinians reject West Bank plan

DUBAI: Israel has proposed a new peace plan under which it would continue to hold on to its largest settlements in the West Bank in return for land in the Negev Desert, which would be handed over to the Palestinians.

According to the proposal reported in the Israeli daily Haaretz, Israel would annex 7.3 per cent of the West Bank. Palestinians would be handed over land equivalent of 5.4 per cent of the territory annexed in the West Bank. The alignment of the border would follow the path taken by the West Bank separation wall that the Israelis have built.

Palestinians have rejected the plan after confirming that Israel had put forward the proposal. Haaretz said the proposal covers the issue of the return of Palestinian refugees displaced by earlier wars as well as security arrangements, which disallow the formation of a Palestinian Army.

However, the status of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians demand as their future capital, remains untouched by the proposal. “The Israeli proposal is not acceptable,” said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah.

“The Palestinian side will only accept a Palestinian state with territorial continuity, with holy Jerusalem as its capital, without settlements, and on the June 4, 1967 boundaries,” he said.

Mr. Rdainah was referring to the borders that existed before Israel annexed East Jerusalem, Gaza and West Bank during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. He described the proposal “a waste of time.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Status quo not possible: Moscow
Speculation rife over Musharraf’s safe exit
Air Force vehicle blasted
Palestinians reject West Bank plan
3 killed in attack on Xinjiang checkpoint
As it gets hotter, plants ‘migrate’ uphill
Nepal parties in talks for consensus
Egypt’s ancient pyramids at Giza to get a makeover
India, U.K. to undertake joint study on trade barriers
Another Indian driver attacked in Melbourne

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu