Compromise With Israel Would Not Benefit Palestine

A lawmaker said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's readiness to sign a "historic peace deal" with Israel would be a mistake, as it would deliver "no benefit" to the oppressed nation.

Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesman for Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, also said efforts made by Abbas to reach a compromise deal will not benefit Palestinians, ICANA reported on Tuesday.

"If the Zionist regime gets recognition because of Abbas's compromise deal, the future of the occupied territories and Palestinian people will be vague and under the dominance of the occupying power," he warned.

Abbas said on Monday that he was ready for a "historical peace deal" with Israel based on a two-state solution.

The two-state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict calls for "two states for two groups of people". The plan envisages an independent state of Palestine alongside Israel, west of the Jordan River based on the borders of 1967. The new deal comes against the backdrop of a push by the new US administration of Donald Trump to finally reach an elusive deal between the two sides.

"Spoke yesterday with the King of Saudi Arabia about peace in the Middle East. Interesting things are happening!" the US president wrote on Monday on Twitter.

Trump waived a law in June requiring the US Embassy to move from Tel Aviv to Beit-ul-Moqaddas, claiming to give the peace another chance. He also sent his influential advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Israel later to lay the groundwork for what Trump calls "the ultimate deal".

Reaching a two-state agreement has also long been a priority of the Saudis, who notably were the main backers of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which promised Arab recognition for Israel in exchange for, among other conditions, a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice line.

  Hamas Softening Position

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas unveiled a new policy document in May that sees the group accepting for the first time the idea of a Palestinian state that would fall within the borders that existed in 1967, before Israel took control of the West Bank, Gaza and all of  Beit-ul-Moqaddas.

The group also dropped its call for the destruction of Israel and advocates resistance to achieve its goal of restoring a Palestinian state while stopping short of giving recognition to the legitimacy of the "Zionist enemy".

Recalling the distrustful nature of Israel, Hosseini warned that "strengthening the hand of [parties promoting] a compromise deal would ultimately lead to the recognition of the Zionist regime".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later trashed the Hamas policy paper, calling it a "hateful document" that attempts to disseminate "lies to the world".

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has denounced the two-state solution.

"Our claim is freedom of Palestine, not part of Palestine. Any plan that partitions Palestine is totally rejected. Palestine spans from the river [Jordan] to the [Mediterranean] sea, nothing less," the Leader declared.