By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has presented Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a detailed proposal for the peace agreement between the two sides, Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, the centerpiece of Olmert’s proposal is on borders, refugees and security arrangements, which would be based on an Israeli pullout from 93 percent of the West Bank while the Palestinians would receive alternative land in southern Israel, adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
In addition, the Palestinians would enjoy free passage between Gaza and the West Bank without any security checks.
About the border, the report said Israel would keep seven percent of the West Bank, and the Palestinians would receive territory equivalent to 5.5 percent of the West Bank in southern Israel, which will be the passage between Gaza and the West Bank.
The land to be annexed to Israel would include the large settlement blocs, and the border would be similar to the present route of Israel’s separation fence.
On the refugee issue, Olmert’s proposal rejects a Palestinian “right of return” and states that the refugees may only return to the Palestinian state, other than exceptional cases in which refugees would be allowed into Israel for family reunification.
Nevertheless, the proposal includes a detailed and complex formula for solving the refugee problem, said the report.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, told Xinhua through telephone that he can’t confirm Ha’aretz’s report, but he revealed that Israel and the Palestinians are making progress in the peace negotiations, including the border issues.