The Palestinian Transportation Ministry said it will build the airport to handle civil and cargo flights between the future Palestinian state and the outside world.

The ministry said that the airport, which would be built in an area between Jerusalem and Jericho, will cost $340 million.

The ministry’s planners said that the airport program has already received the go-ahead from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and that they are seeking international funding.

Sa’di Al-Kronz, the Palestinian transportation minister, said recently that the Palestinian Authority will not seek the approval of Israeli government since the construction of an airport in the West Bank is included in the Oslo peace accord.

Al-Kronz added that the PA will also rebuild the destroyed airport in the Gaza Strip.

The ministry also revealed that it will build a railway to connect West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The development came days after the PA asked donor countries for nearly $5 billion in order to develop a Palestinian state.

The PA plan calls for $1.467 billion in 2011, $1.754 billion in 2012 and $1.596 billion for 2013.

On Tuesday, the United Nations said in a report that the PA is ready to operate as a sovereign government by September, the target date of independence for a Palestinian state. Similar declarations came last week from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.