Israel Proposes Palestinian Refugee Plan

Photo by Koret Communications / IFM Photo

(IFM) The Foreign Ministry is putting together a new diplomatic initiative aimed at finding a permanent solution to the Palestinian refugees problem in the West Bank and Gaza and in neighboring Arab countries, the Jerusalem Post reported. Israel intends to ask countries that support the Palestinian Authority financially to invest capital in finding a permanent housing solution for Palestinians living in the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Syria and Lebanon.

Minister of Foreign Silvan Shalom has reportedly spoken with leaders of countries that financially back the Palestinian Authority, as well as representatives of the World Bank, and asked them to assist with the new plan. The plan also includes a request by some of these nations to absorb some of the refugees in their own countries.

Earlier this month, 18 donor countries pledged approximately $90 million for the 2005 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) during a meeting at the UN. The agency's $339 million budget for 2005 was some 2.7 percent higher than the previous year, according to the UN.

One-third of the registered Palestine refugees, about 1.3 million people, live in 59 recognized refugee camps in the area of UNRWA operations in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Israel has long charged that rather than working to permanently solve the refugee problem, the UNRWA-run camps only perpetuate the issue.

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Abbas Rejects Israel’s Plan to Solve
Palestinian Refugees’ Issue

(IFM) PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected Wednesday a new Israeli initiative to resettle Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring Arab countries, reports the Jerusalem Post. "Any proposal regarding the resettlement of the refugees is completely rejected," Abbas told reporters in Saudi Arabia.

Abbas was referring to the Foreign Ministry's diplomatic initiative aimed at finding a permanent solution to the Palestinian refugees in the PA-controlled areas and in neighboring Arab countries. The initiative calls for asking countries that support the PA financially to invest capital in finding a permanent housing solution for Palestinians living in the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Syria and Lebanon. Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom has reportedly spoken with leaders of countries that financially back the PA, as well as representatives of the World Bank, and asked them to assist with the new plan. The plan also includes a request by some of these nations to absorb some of the refugees in their own countries.