Palestinian leaders have denied allegations they offered territorial concessions to Israel during Middle East peace talks.
The claims were made in over 1,000 leaked documents uncovered by the Al Jazeera news network.Its alleged Israel rejected a proposal which would have allowed it to keep parts of occupied East Jerusalem, affecting the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Joseph Dana, a journalist for the online magazine +972, which focuses on Israeli and Palestinian issues, believes that the documents provide ultimate confirmation that Israel has not been a viable peace partner in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations.“Israel is clearly interested in maintaining the status quo, which necessarily includes a permanent state of war both for Israelis and Palestinians,” Dana said. “Status quo features Israel holding on to the West Bank territories through various means of occupation, and a complete severing of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. This is not shocking information, but it does provide ultimate confirmation that this is the Israeli tactic.”