Abbas to Proceed With Referendum
From Times Wire Reports
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would go ahead with a referendum on a political plan that would implicitly recognize Israel even though the governing Hamas party firmly opposed such a vote.
Abbas’ office made the announcement after he failed in last-ditch talks to persuade the Islamic militant group to accept the principle of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem -- land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
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