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Mahmoud Abbas: Israel's West Bank occupation leading to one-state solution

Guardian
Posted on Thursday February 4, 2010

Israel’s continuing colonisation of the West Bank is leading to a “one-state solution”, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has told the Guardian, while indicating that he may be poised this week to accept a US proposal for “proximity talks” with Israel through American mediators.

In an exclusive interview, the Palestinian Authority president also insisted he would not allow any return to armed resistance; offered direct negotiations with Israel in exchange for a complete three-month settlement freeze; claimed he had come close to a comprehensive agreement with former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert that went beyond anything negotiated by Yasser Arafat under President Bill Clinton; and defended Egypt’s construction of an underground wall to prevent smuggling into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.

The Palestinian Authority president has been under intense US pressure to open peace negotiations with the Israeli government of Binyamin Netanyahu, but has so far refused to do so unless Israel freezes all settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories, as originally demanded by the US president, Barack Obama, and required under the 2002 road map. Israel has only accepted a partial halt on settlement construction for 10 months.

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