Abbas warns of violence if 'peace' rejected
Palestinian Authority president accuses Israel of evading peace by demanding Arab peace initiative be amended, says region could slide into violence if peace not achieved in near future
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Thursday of violence if Israel rejected a Palestinian "hand of peace", and called for an international conference on reaching a final peace agreement with the Jewish State.
Speaking at the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, Abbas accused Israel of evading peace by demanding that Arab states alter a land-for-peace initiative.
"Demanding that amendments be introduced to the Arab peace initiative, is seeking to avoid the realization of peace," Abbas said at the summit's closing ceremony.
Israel called on Arab states to drop a clause demanding that Palestinian refugees who fled Palestine in 1948 be allowed to return to their home within Israeli sovereign territory.
Palestinian PM Haniyeh (R) shaking hands with Emir of Kuwait (L) (Photo: AP)
"I reiterate the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people ... we should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful
cause," he added.
"The entire region will be under renewed threats of war, explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one," Abbas said.
"We hope our summit would result in the formation of an Arab committee headed by the Saudi Arabian monarchy, the head of the summit, to follow up implementation of the Arab initiative," he said, referring to an Arab land-for-peace proposal.
He called for a "negotiated settlement that will be sponsored by the international community and within the framework of an international peace conference in the region".
Roe Nahmias contributed to this report
