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Peace Not Possible Before Israel implements UN Resolutions: Erekat
Peace will not be reached in the Middle East before Israel fully implements the United Nations resolutions on the half-century Mideast conflict, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Friday in Cairo.
Erekat told the Egyptian television that the Palestinian intifada (uprising) will continue until peace is realized on the basis of the international resolutions.
Israel must comply with the UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which call for Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, especially East Jerusalem, and guarantee the Palestinian refugees' right to return to their homeland, Erekat said.
He insisted that the reservations from the Palestinian side over US peace proposals on a final settlement with Israel must be clarified.
"Whether the US delivers its official answer to the Palestinian reservations, it has to be clear on the issues of Jerusalem, borders, settlements, refugees and water," said Erekat, terming these issues as "fateful and crucial."
US President Bill Clinton raised the proposals on December 23, which will give the Palestinians sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods and the Al Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, but deny the Palestinian refugees' right to return.
Israel has accepted the proposals in principle while the Palestinians considered the peace plan "full of ambiguities" and were seeking clarifications from the outgoing U.S. president.
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