Middle East News

Report: Netanyahu ready to offer 90 per cent of West Bank (Roundup)

Aug 13, 2010, 14:27 GMT

An Israeli border policeman stands guard as Palestinians pray during the first Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron on 13 August 2010. EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

Cairo - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would offer an interim agreement to withdraw from 90 per cent of the occupied West Bank in direct negotiations with the Palestinians, a regional daily reported Friday.

The offer would exclude East Jerusalem, al-Hayat reported. Palestinians want the eastern part of the holy city as their future capital.

The Arab League recently approved a move to allow direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, but left the timing up to President Mahmoud Abbas, and said any future round would have to be the final negotiations.

Abbas has said the Palestinians would only enter into talks if certain conditions were met, including a freeze on Israeli settlement construction and a a firm timetable for the talks.

The Palestinian leader has said the negotiations would have to be aiming for a final status solution to end the decades old conflict and he would decline interim deals.

Israel rejects any conditions for direct talks.

According to al-Hayat, Netanyahu told Western diplomats that the current situation is not suitable to reach a final peace agreement, and he would present the Palestinian Authority a new interim deal, which would not oblige them to end future claims on the rest of the West Bank or Jerusalem.

The online Israeli news site Walla quoted Netanyahu's office as calling the al-Hayat report an 'absolute lie.'

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab daily also quoted Egyptian sources as saying that Cairo would agree to host the launch of direct negotiations if US President Barack Obama will attend.

Palestinian official indicated the details of such a launch would be decided next week.

Obama's administration has so far been brokering 'proximity talks' between the sides this year, but has lately been pushing for direct negotiations.