Establishing Palestinian state only solution to conflict with Israel: spokesman

Nabil Abu Rudeineh

RAMALLAH, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told reporters on Saturday.

"Any proposal, whether it is a state with temporary borders, or an entity or a state lacking sovereignty, will not end the conflict, will lead to confrontations and wars," he said in response to Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz's remarks that the political solution with the Palestinians "is to establish an entity for them while maintaining the Israeli security hegemony."

Peace is achieved only by respecting the United Nations resolutions, the spokesman noted.

In the June 1967 Middle East war, Israel occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, which are claimed by the Palestinians, and has controlled them ever since.

The Palestinians have been seeking to establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.