A senior Palestinian official unveiled Tuesday some details of a peace plan for a permanent peaceful solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, which was recently drafted by U.S. President Barack Obama, who intends to officially declare it soon.
According to Hassan Khraisha, deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, the plan includes the establishment of an independent Palestinian statehood first in the West Bank, and then Gaza Strip will be included, while holy sites in East Jerusalem will be under Arab and Islamic supervision.
Khraisha, who is also an independent lawmaker in the Hamas- dominated parliament, accused some Palestinian figures in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of knowing about the plan before and trading it with other Palestinian, Arab and Israeli figures.
Hamas movement, which opposes the plan, seized control of the Gaza Strip by force in June 2007 and routed west-backed President Mahmoud Abbas security forces.
President Obama is determined to present his peace plan which is expected to resume the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and help the Palestinians to establish their Palestinian state by the year 2011.
Khraisha revealed to Xinhua that he had managed to get a draft of the new U.S. plan for peace, charging that the draft was being traded among some Arab, Palestinian and Israeli figures.
Khraisha, who declined to say from where he got the draft, said that the U.S. administration had finalized the plan with the assistance of some Jewish figures specialized in the Israeli- Palestinian affairs.
"The plan is based on establishing a Palestinian statehood by the year 2011. It talks about resettling a limited number of Palestinian refugees in the Jordan valley and other areas in the West Bank," Khraisha said. The "refugees" will be resettled in an area between Nablus and Ramallah.
He also revealed that "the plan calls for establishing an international fund association to help the Palestinian refugees. The plan did not show what would be the fate of the Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other Arab and foreign countries.
"The new U.S. plan calls for turning the different armed Palestinian factions into political parties which condemn the use of violence against Israel," said Khraisha.
He also said that one the most significant points in the draft of the plan is "to fully normalize the ties between the Arab states and Israel."
Khraisha warned that the question of East Jerusalem is one of the most significant questions in the new U.S. plan.
"The plan puts parts of East Jerusalem under the full Israeli sovereignty without any actual Palestinian control on it. But the holy sites will be under Arab and Islamic administration," said Khraisha.
He also revealed that according to the plan, the Palestinian state starts first in the West Bank, and then it will be followed by the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas movement.
About the Israeli settlements, the plan talks about keeping big settlements in the West Bank, and to start negotiations on smaller settlements within three months, while keeping the rest of the territory of the West Bank demilitarized with Israeli control of the air.
The plan, according to Khraisha also calls for intensifying the Israeli-Palestinian security coordination in the West Bank, adding that it prevents the (PNA) from making any foreign military alliances in the region.
On the issue of Palestinian prisoners, the plan includes an Israeli release of a number of prisoners from its jails as soon as a permanent peace agreement is signed between Israel and the PNA. The prisoners' release would take three years, according to the plan.
Khraisha slammed the U.S. plan, saying "it means to dwarf the Palestinian political project and smashes the legitimate rights of the Palestinians in two basic issues, Jerusalem and the refugees return."
"The plans and declarations of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to start building up the establishments and the institutions of the future Palestinian statehood might be made in accordance with the U.S. peace plan," said Khraisha.
He said that the PNA "might deal with the plan, which is very dangerous and it comes in a status of Palestinian weakness due to the current political rift between Hamas and Fatah."
(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2009)
