Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, said Friday that Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to create permanent borders by 2010 is "a declaration of war" on the Palestinian people.
Mashaal, who started Friday a visit to Saudi Arabia, said "this is not a peace plan, rather a declaration of war that would enable Israel to hold on to a large portion of the West Bank and Jerusalem, keep the wall, the settlements, and delay the right of return. Olmert is in the process of committing the same mistakes as Ariel Sharon."
In interviews published Friday, Olmert said after the election in Israel the cabinet under his leadership would allow to begin the construction of new housing units between the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem.
The israeli acting prime minister said he to "completely separate from the majority of the Palestinian population and preserve a large and stable Jewish majority in Israel," The Jerusalem Post reported.
