Mahmoud Abbas. Photo: Olivier Pacteau.

JNS.org – While Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations began in Washington, DC, on Monday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking in Cairo, ruled out the “presence of a single Israeli” in a future Palestinian state.

“In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli—civilian or soldier—on our lands,” Abbas said in a press briefing, according to Israel Hayom.

Rather than an Israeli military presence in a Palestinian state, Abbas said the Palestinians supported an “international, multinational presence like in Sinai, Lebanon and Syria,” referring to United Nations peacekeeping forces. But Israel has said it wants to maintain a military presence in the Jordan Valley following the establishment of a Palestinian state, to prevent the influx of weapons that could be used against Israel.

Regarding Israeli-Palestinian territorial disputes, Abbas said the Palestinians have “already made all the necessary concessions.” He said eastern Jerusalem is “the capital of the state of Palestine… if there were and must be some kind of small exchange [of land’ equal in size and value, we are ready to discuss this—no more, no less.”