Palestinian state with provisional borders unacceptable — Abbas

DEAD SEA — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state with provisional borders, calling the proposal "totally unacceptable". 

The establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital is an "irreversible" Palestinian quest, Abbas said in a speech he delivered at the World Economic Forum meeting at the Dead Sea.

According to media reports, Israel suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders, covering 60 per cent of the West Bank.

Such an interim agreement, reports said, would include a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines with land swaps, so that major settlement blocs would remain in Israel.

Abbas, also chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee, said Palestine's accession to international treaties and conventions does not "target any party" but has the sole aim of matching Palestinian institutions with international law.

Palestine ratified 14 UN conventions last year and has become a state party to the Geneva conventions regulating the conduct of armed conflict. The Israeli authorities have accused the Palestinians of sabotaging the US-sponsored peace talks.

"We are moving ahead with building the institutions of our state on the basis of the rule of law, democracy, pluralism and transparency," Abbas said, adding that efforts are under way to remove all obstacles to conducting elections and achieving reconciliation.

Stressing that the Palestinians do not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, the Fateh leader explained that the region is witnessing a variety of struggles under various titles threatening the territorial unity of some countries.

He also said that the spread of war and chaos in some regional countries has "opened the door" to terrorist organisations that use religion as a pretext to achieve their goals.

Abbas also said that the Ramallah government is working on rebuilding the Gaza Strip despite the "many obstacles" hindering the endeavour, and the Palestinian Authority has also worked, in coordination with international organisations, to secure humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian refugees in the Yarmouk camp in Syria.

In April, Daesh terrorist group took control of large parts of the camp in southern Damascus.

"We are adherent to just and lasting peace that can ultimately lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital on the basis of the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative."