By Xinhua,
Ramallah : A senior Palestinian official said on Tuesday that the Israeli proposal to withdraw from 93 percent of the West Bank is just a media report and a testing balloon.
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, an aide to President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement sent to reporters that “all what we hear about are just media balloons to show that Israel is serious in the peace process.”
The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is preparing a peace plan to withdraw from 93percent of the West Bank area.
The two major issues, Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, have been postponed, said the report, adding that Israel would give Abbas a territory in the Negev closed to Gaza Strip borders according to the plan.
“We haven’t official heard about the plan from official Israeli leaders. It is just reports published in the media to show that Israel is serious in achieving a progress in the peace process with the Palestinians,” said Abdel Rahman.
However, Abdel Rahman expressed optimism that an agreement on establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital before the end of this year.
“I can’t say that establishing a Palestinian state before the end of this year is something impossible and I can’t at the same time predict because the current Palestinian situation is not encouraging,” said Abdel Rahman.
He added “Israel is also not yet prepared to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories. But the Palestinian state will be established sooner or later.”