Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned in comments published yesterday that if Israel does not negotiate on its plan to withdraw from parts of the West Bank by 2010, the move will lead to another war in a decade.
In an interview with the Guardian, Abbas said that Israeli prime minister-designate Ehud Olmert's plan to set down Israel's final borders along the route of the separation barrier would lead to more bloodshed.
struggle
Such Israeli action might delay "the struggle," but not end the conflict, Abbas said.
"Okay, they can postpone it for 10 years," Abbas told the daily. "After 10 years our sons will feel it is unfair and they will return back to struggle."
"In the West Bank they will demarcate the borders and say: `This is your state,'" Abbas said. "And they want our state within the wall without negotiations ... Nobody will accept it. The struggle will continue."
Olmert won last month's elections on a platform to attempt to negotiate with the Palestinians on his plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank, which the Palestinians want to include in a future state.
Even if an agreement with the Palestinians is not reached, Israel will set down its borders, according to the plan.
tough time
Olmert is expected to have a tough time starting peace talks with the Palestinians since the radical Islamic party Hamas rose to power.
Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks, refuses to answer Israel's demands that it recognize the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept peace agreements.
A senior Hamas official said on Friday that the group is ready to accept a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, which would imply recognition of Israel, without requiring Hamas to state this formally.
However, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he was not aware of a two-state proposal.
ROCKY RELATIONS: The figures on residents come as Chinese tourist numbers drop following Beijing’s warnings to avoid traveling to Japan The number of Chinese residents in Japan has continued to rise, even as ties between the two countries have become increasingly fractious, data released on Friday showed. As of the end of December last year, the number of Chinese residents had increased by 6.5 percent from the previous year to 930,428. Chinese people accounted for 22.6 percent of all foreign residents in Japan, making them by far the largest group, Japanese Ministry of Justice data showed. Beijing has criticized Tokyo in increasingly strident terms since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year suggested that a military conflict around Taiwan could
Japan is to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen. This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected to approve next month, would instead describe China as an important neighbor and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial.” The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan. The shift in tone underscores a deterioration
A retired US colonel behind a privately financed rocket launch site in the Dominican Republic sees the project as a response to China’s dominance of the space race in Latin America. Florida-based Launch on Demand is slated to begin building a US$600 million facility in a remote region near the border with Haiti late this year. The project is designed to meet surging demand for the heavy-lift rockets needed to put clusters of satellites into orbit. It is also an answer to China’s growing presence in the region, said CEO Burton Catledge, a former commander of the US Air Force’s 45th Operations
Germany is considering Australia’s Ghost Bat robot fighter as it looks to select a combat drone to modernize its air force, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said yesterday. Germany has said it wants to field hundreds of uncrewed fighter jets by 2029, and would make a decision soon as it considers a range of German, European and US projects developing so-called “collaborative combat aircraft.” Australia has said it will integrate the Ghost Bat, jointly developed by Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force, into its military after a successful weapons test last year. After inspecting the Ghost Bat in Queensland yesterday,
RSS