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Poll shows that most Israelis, Palestinians still seek peace

Of more than 6,295 Palestinians now in Israeli jails, 692 Palestinians – including two women and 13 minors – are being held under administrative detention, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. Some sources say at least 30 targets were struck.

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A multinational force would be set up in the Palestinian state, and Israel would maintain two early warning stations in the West Bank for 15 years.

Right wing Israeli ministers have threatened to block Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman from authorising the construction of a Palestinian building in the occupied West Bank.

He said he does not intend to allow Palestinians to build another city.

Settlers say they are returning to properties that belonged to Jews before they fled the area, following deadly Arab riots in 1929.

Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, welcomed expanding the settlement, saying it “would be good news for the Jewish community here”.

The settlements are built on land Palestinians want for a future state – a state which the new poll shows both Israelis and Palestinians still hope will be created.

The idea of a single state shared by both Israeli and Palestinians with equal rights was supported by only 34 percent of Palestinians and 20 percent of Israelis.

“The number of administrative detainees is at an eight-year high”.

“The entire world already supports the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, apart from the government of Israel, which will become a pariah in the world as a result of its objectionist positions”.

After two decades of failed peace efforts, and almost a year of low-level violence, distrust is strong.

Hermann said she was surprised by the higher fear level on the Israeli side, and cited a number of factors. The vast majority of Palestinians (89 percent) feel Israeli Jews are untrustworthy, and most Israeli Jews (68 percent) feel that way about Palestinians.

Sixty-five percent of Israelis say they fear Palestinians, while 54 percent of Palestinians say they do not fear Israeli Jews, according to the poll.

Hermann added that the recent spate of violence had stunned Israelis who had been more insulated from the conflict than Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Israelis and Palestinians tend to perceive each other’s national motives to be much more extreme than they do their own side’s. In addition, she said Israeli leaders – by painting the Palestinians as “utterly hostile” – and Israeli media reports had contributed to the atmosphere.

He further said some 100 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons have launched hunger strikes in solidarity with Kayed. The poll surveyed some 1,200 people on each side and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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Last year, 51 percent of both Israelis and Palestinians supported a two-state solution, according to a similar survey the Palestinian center conducted annually with the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University since 2000.

Avigdor Lieberman