Hamas rejects Abbas ideas on reaching peace treaty

The statements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on reaching a permanent peace agreement with Israel are his own personal ideas, an Islamic Hamas movement' s spokesman said Monday. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri said in an emailed press statement that the statements of Abbas on reaching a permanent peace agreement with Israel represent his own personal ideas." "These ideas don't express the reality of the Palestinian consensus and the stances of the Palestinian factions, which oppose the peace talks or any solution that neglects the Palestinian merits and their legal rights," said Abu Zuhri. Earlier on Monday, the New York Times published an interview with Abbas, saying he presented to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ideas related to reaching a permanent peace deal with Israel. Abbas suggested that a U.S.-led NATO force remain in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in a future Palestinian state in order to ensure Israel's security, adding "following an agreement on territory, Israeli troops should be able to remain in the Palestinian state for a transition period of five years." Following the withdrawal of the Israeli forces, Abbas said that they should be replaced indefinitely by the NATO troops, who would secure the area along with Palestinian security forces and police. The Palestinian leader said that, while former PM Ehud Olmert welcomed the idea of foreign troops replacing Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, Netanyahu told Abbas personally that he rejects the idea.