Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said in a press statement that Abbas did not make such an offer. Erekat added that the current US-brokered indirect talks were to remain secret.
The London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat said that Abbas had agreed that the Al-Buraq Wall and the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem remain under Israeli sovereignty in the context of a peace agreement between the PA and Israel. The city would also remain open to followers of all religions.
Al-Hayat reported that Abbas made the offer in “written ideas” he presented to US Middle East envoy George Mitchell at the beginning of the “proximity talks” with Israel.
The daily said that the proposal called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on land equal to 100 percent of the entire West Bank, while carrying out a 2.3 percent land swap between the two sides. According to the report, the Palestinians agreed to leave settlement blocs including Gush Etzion, Pisgat Ze’ev and Modi’in Ilit, along with a strip of land overlooking Ben-Gurion International Airport, in Israeli hands. In return, the Palestinians would be given a strip of land adjacent to Hebron that would be the same size as the territory annexed by Israel, the report said.
The report quoted Palestinian officials as saying that Abbas’ proposals were largely based on the peace negotiations conducted in 2000, first at Camp David and later at the Egyptian resort of Taba.
In return, the Palestinians would be given a strip of land adjacent to Hebron that would be the same size as the territory annexed by Israel, they added. In addition, the safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reopened, the report said.
The US administration, which failed to bring the Palestinian Authority and Israel to direct peace talks that stopped in December 2008, had managed to convince the two sides to start first with the four- month indirect proximity talks, focusing on issues of settlements, borders and security, then go for direct talks on the entire issues.
