PA: Resuming talks, modifying borders as alternative to deal of the century

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has announced it is ready for “direct bilateral” talks with Israel and “limited” land exchange as alternative to the US’ ‘deal of the century’, news agencies reported yesterday.

The PA is “ready to resume direct bilateral negotiations where they stopped” in 2014, a close aide to PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh told news sites including AFP.

US to recognise Israel sovereignty over Golan – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

“If Israel declares the annexation of any part of Palestinian territory, this will necessarily mean the annulling of all signed agreements,” the PA wrote in a four-page letter sent to the Middle East Quartet – UN, US, EU and Russia.

“We submitted a counter-proposal to the Quartet a few days ago,” the close aide said.

“No one has as much interest as the Palestinians in reaching a peace agreement, and no one has as much to lose as the Palestinians in the absence of peace,” the PA wrote in its proposal.

“We are ready to have our state with a limited number of weapons and a powerful police force to uphold law and order,” the PA explained.

OPINION: Annexation is still inadmissible, even by Israel

The PA pointed out that it would accept an international force such as NATO, mandated by the UN, to monitor its commitment under any agreement reached with Israel.

According to the PA, the proposal gives a solution for the planned Israeli annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank which is expected to begin today.

Meanwhile, the proposal accepts “minor, mutually agreed border changes based on the 1967 borders.”