国际英语新闻：Abbas seeks peace on clear grounds, rejects state with provisional borders

The Israeli demand over considering Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish people came shortly after the Knesset passed a law that calls for holding a public referendum in case of any Israeli decision to withdraw from the Golan Heights of Syria or from Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in an official statement published by "Wafa" news agency that President Abbas and the Palestinian leadership rebuffs the option of establishing an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders.

"The key for the direct peace negotiations is represented in halting all the settlement activities in the Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem," Erekat said, adding "it is time now to make decisions mainly in the issue of recognizing the state of Palestine with east Jerusalem as its capital."

Abbas had earlier stated during a meeting of his Fatah party's revolutionary council that the question of accepting a state with temporary borders "is rejected, why? because, if we accept a state with temporary borders for two days, then it will become permanent and it will be without Jerusalem."

Erekat called on the international community "to immediately interfere to stop the Israeli policy of dictations and imposing facts on the ground, mainly the new bill that Israel is preparing to pass in the Knesset which will consider Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people."

He also slammed the Israeli plan to establish a railway that connects the settlement of Ariel in the West Bank with Tel Aviv. He also stressed that "executing these policies would mean that the Israeli government had ended the peace process and the signed peace accords."

Meanwhile, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) had called on the International Quartet for peace in the Middle East to intervene to Israel to let the PNA ministry of health to build up medical clinics in areas under the full Israeli security control.

Fathi Abu Mghali, PNA minister of health called in an official letter sent to the Quartet, which includes the United States, Europe, Russia and the United Nations, to pressure on Israel to allow construction raw materials into areas "C" in the West Bank to build clinics for the Palestinian residents.