Report: Abbas, Hamas agree on plan for independent Palestinian state

Palestinian sources in Ramallah reported as saying plan calls for giving US a 4-month period to draw borders of Palestinian state and garner Israel’s recognition.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Doha (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Doha
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas have agreed on a three-phase plan that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on Saturday.
It calls for giving the Americans a period of four months to draw the borders of the Palestinian state and win Israel’s recognition, the paper quoted Palestinian sources in Ramallah as saying.
If the two sides agree on the plan, they would launch immediate negotiations with a defined timetable during which Israel would be asked to present a map of its proposal for borders, the sources said.
But if the plan is rejected, the sources added, the Palestinians, together with the Arab countries, would ask the United Nations Security Council to “evict Israel from the land of Palestine.”
If this move also fails, the Palestinian leadership would resort to a third option, joining international treaties and conventions, including the International Criminal Court, in order to file war crime charges against Israeli leaders, the sources said.
The PLO leadership approved the plan last week, which was agreed upon between Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal during their recent meetings in Qatar, according to the sources.
They said that Abbas intends to send Palestinian officials Saeb Erekat and Majed Faraj to Washington to present the plan to US Secretary of State John Kerry and see what he thinks about it.
Last week, Abbas announced that he was planning a “diplomatic and political surprise” to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict. Abbas told an Egyptian TV station that he did not expect the US administration to approve of his plan, which basically calls for the UN Security Council to issue a resolution demanding that Israel withdraw to the pre- 1967 lines.
Abbas said he hopes the Arab League will back his initiative when it meets in Cairo in the coming weeks.