Abbas pledges referendum on any final deal with Israel

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has promised to hold a national referendum on any final status agreement with Israel, and criticised Israeli pressure on him to confront militants, the Palestinian government news agency, WAFA, has reported.

In a meeting in his office in Ramallah on Tuesday, Abbas also told a group of businesspeople, academics and public officials that the Palestinians “would not accept anything less than 1967 borders,” and should not be disheartened by large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank, because there is a precedent for settlement removal.