In an interview with Reuters news agency at the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the city of Ramallah, the 87-year-old leader said the conflict between Israel and Palestine had reached an alarming stage, requiring an international conference with the participation of major powers to discuss a peaceful solution.
Mr. Mahmoud Abbas - President of Palestine. Photo: Reuters
In addition to Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, Mr Abbas said Israeli forces had stepped up attacks across the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, as settlers escalated violence against Palestinian towns.
Against that backdrop, Mr. Abbas continued to advocate negotiations over armed resistance to end the long-term occupation.
"I support negotiations based on an international peace conference and under international auspices to establish a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem," he said.
A senior US official said the partners had been working on plans for an international conference, but that they were still at a very preliminary stage. "We will consider this proposal with an open mind, but no decision has been made yet," one official said.
Mr Abbas said that based on a binding international agreement, he could restore the weakened Palestinian Authority, implement reforms, hold presidential and parliamentary elections that had been suspended after Hamas won in 2006 and push the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza.
In two months of conflict in the Gaza Strip, more than 17,000 people have been killed, 46,000 injured, and some 1.9 million people have been displaced, more than half of whom are now sheltering in areas in central Gaza or near the Egyptian border.
Hoai Phuong (according to Reuters)
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