PA chief Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that the PA would not accept a solution that would not include allowing descendants of refugees who fled Israel in 1948 to return to their parental homes, nor would he agree to accept Israel as a “Jewish state.” He also said that all Jews living in settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, as well as all Jews living in liberated areas of Jerusalem, would have to leave their homes, as the PA would not allow Jews to live in the Arab state it seeks to establish in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Speaking in Ramallah, Abbas denied that the PA's plan to seek recognition of an Arab state in Yesha was designed to deny Israel's right to exist, adding that since negotiations with the PA were halted during Operation Cast Lead, no new offers on PA statehood have been presented.
Abbas added that regardless of whether or not the PA succeeds in getting recognition for its state at the UN in September, he would return to the negotiating table, since there were issues that could be resolved by negotiating.