The Palestinian Authority prime minister urged Arab leaders not to compromise on the demand for a refugee “right of return.” Ahead of an Arab League summit in Riyadh, Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that he was concerned that a Saudi initiative for peace with Israel would curb the Palestinians’ demand that refugees from the 1948 War of Independence, and millions of their descendants, be granted a right to retake homes now in the Jewish state.
“I expect the Arab summit meeting in Riyadh to reiterate the Arab countries’ commitment not to compromise in any way on the Palestinian refugees’ right of return under any circumstances,” Haniyeh, a leader of Hamas, told Reuters.
Israel has ruled out admitting refugees, saying it would be demographic suicide to allow them to return to Israel and that instead they should resettle in a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Saudi initiative, which was first broached in 2002 and is up for review in Riyadh, calls for a “just and agreed-upon” solution to the refugee problem. Some political analysts say that effectively grants Israel a veto option, though exercising that veto would likely inflame the Arab world.
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