The Land Of Palestine Is Not For Rent

PNA rejects "renting land" to Israel

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Saturday rejected future solutions involving renting land to Israel.

"The land of Palestine is not for rent," said Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator.

Arab media reported that the United States and Israel discussed the land rental proposal to overcome some obstacles that face a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.

On Friday, the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awssat newspaper said that Israel would hire the land in East Jerusalem and the future Palestinian state's eastern borders with Jordan for 40 or 99 years.

Emphasizing the Palestinian rejection of such proposals, Erekat accused Israel of fueling debate on that issue as "trial balloons. "

Meanwhile, Erekat said the Palestinians still rely on the United States to convince Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank. "We should give the peace process the chance it deserves," he added.

The Palestinians stopped participating in the negotiations, which Washington brokered in early September, after Israel allowed a partial moratorium on Jewish settlement to expire.