RAMALLAH 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said Monday that any "historic" compromise with Israel must include the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"[Any historic compromise] must lead to the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital," PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah told the official Wafa news agency.

"This also includes an immediate halt of settlement activities, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and halting settler activities in the holy sites," he added.

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was ready "to make a historic compromise".

"A broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world may help facilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace," Netanyahu said. "Israel is prepared to work with Arab partners to confront dangers and seize opportunities."

Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem and the West Bank swung into full gear recently after peace talks with Palestinian negotiators collapsed earlier this year.

Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building on Arab land must stop before any comprehensive peace agreement can be reached.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement building on the land to be illegal.

About 500,000 Israelis currently live in more than one hundred Jewish-only settlements built since Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians want both areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for an eventual independent state of Palestine.

By Qais Abu Samra

www.aa.com.tr/en