By IRNA,
Gaza City : Palestinians prefer to establish a binational state as an alternative for the US-backed two-state strategy, a top Palestinian negotiator says.
Ahmed Qurei says they may instead seek a binational state, that is a single state for Israelis and Palestinians in Tel Aviv, the West Bank and Gaza.
Analysts say Israel fears a binational would spell the end of the Jewish majority state.
Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. Its negotiators have always resisted full withdrawal from them.
Qurei told a meeting of the ruling Fatah faction in the West Bank that the Palestinian leadership had been working to establish a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
“If Israel continues to reject this and prevent us from achieve our choice, we will call for the alternative solution for the Palestinian people and their leadership – that is a single binationalist state,” he said.
Analysts say chances are slim of achieving a two-state peace deal before US President George W Bush leaves office next January, a deadline put forward by Washington and signed up to by both sides.