No ME peace without Palestinian state

Fifty-seven years on from the foundation of the state of Israel, an event known by Palestinians as the Naqba (Arabic for catastrophe), their leader Mahmud Abbas said that the whole region's stability was dependent on a just solution to his people's cause.

"Peace, stability and security in the Middle East can only be achieved with a just solution to our cause, based on the international resolutions, which stress our people's right to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," said Abbas in comments broadcast by Palestinian media to mark the 57th anniversary of the state of Israel.

Peace was also dependent on "achieving a just and agreed solution to the refugees issue," he added in reference to the Palestinians who fled their homes or were forced out of them on the creation of Israel.

Abbas is himself a refugee, having been born in the town of Safed in what is now northern Israel.

The fate of the original refugees and their descendants, who are scattered throughout the occupied territories and in neighbouring Arab countries, has been one of the thorniest issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel steadfastly opposes the so-called right of return, aware that the demographics of the Jewish state could be overturned if all Palestinian refugees and their descendants move to modern-day Israel.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian fled their homes or were forced out of them on the creation of Israel.