PA says no 'peace deal' with Israel without Jerusalem

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Tuesday reiterated refusal to accept any plans to establish a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital.

"Any attempt to promote suspicious ideas from any side, and under any vague slogans and endless positions, will have no value or usefulness,” PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement cited by the official Wafa news agency.

“We say to those who try to circumvent the Arab peace initiative and resolutions of international legitimacy by proposing vague proposals or slogans that your attempts will be doomed to failure,” he said.

“No Palestinian or Arab will accept that," the spokesman stressed.

“There will be no solution”, Abu Rudeina said, “without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders and with a just solution to the refugee issue”.

The spokesman, however, did not disclose the reasons for issuing the statement.

An official source in the Palestinian Authority, however, told Anadolu Agency that some countries have suggested to the PA to accept American ideas for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“The ideas do not include East Jerusalem as a future capital,” the source said on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to media.

The source acknowledged that the Palestinian areas “would be considerably less than a state”.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

The holy city has captured world attention in December when U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, triggering world outcry and protests in the Palestinian territories.