Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that his Hamas-led government would be willing to accept a temporary Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in exchange for a 10-year truce with Israel.
His comments - consistent with a call for Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders - came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was scheduled to meet Hamas' supreme leader Khaled Mashaal in Syria to discuss ways to form a coalition government and end international sanctions on the Palestinians.
Proposals for a temporary truce forwarded by Haniyeh have previously been rejected by Israel and the international community because they have not conformed to the international community's demands that the organization recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence.
"We are with liberating any inch of Palestine," the Palestinian Prime Minister said in a televised address,
explaining his suggestion.
"But we will not close the door for the next generation, because the weak don't always stay weak, and the strong won't stay strong," he added.
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