The Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and the four West Bank settlements is not an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land; an Arab senior diplomat was quoted as saying.
The diplomat, who preferred to be anonymous, told Palestinian News Network (PNN), slammed some Israeli officials who said there will be no further withdrawals from the West Bank.
Some Israeli officials stated that the Palestinian state is established and there is no need for further pullouts, other than this one slated to start on August 15.
Responding to these statements, the Arab official said, ‘If Israel does not withdraw from all the lands occupied in 1967, there will be no Palestinian state with full sovereignty on its territory, with Jerusalem its capital.’
The official also slammed statements claiming that the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon willingly gave up the idea of having Israeli military presence at the Egyptian side of Rafah, saying that Sharon is forced to do so, because of Arab pressure.
PNN said that the official praised the Palestinian Authority’s attempts to unify the Palestinian front and to end the display of weapons in the Palestinian streets.
Some reports stated that Sharon received British, French and American promises to press for a resolution by United Nations Security Council to regard the intended Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip as an official end to the occupation and to get Israel relieved from responsibility over situation in the Gaza Strip.
