Study group calls for new form of resistance to Israeli occupation with goal of single, bi-national state

A group of prominent Palestinian figures has proposed a radical change in strategy to demand a single, bi-national state if the current round of Middle East peace talks fails.

The Palestinian Strategy Study Group, an EU-funded project written by 27 leading Palestinian figures from across the political spectrum, argued that the current two-state framework for peace talks is failing to bring the promised independent state. Instead, it suggested ending the negotiation process that has gone on now for nearly 20 years, reconstituting the Palestinian Authority into what might become a "Palestinian Resistance Authority", and developing a form of "smart" resistance.

"The central aim will be to maximise the cost of continuing occupation for Israel, and to make the whole prospect of unilateral separation unworkable," it said. The final, and most striking proposal, is to shift to a "single state outcome" as the Palestinians' preferred goal. This, it said, would regain the strategic initiative for the Palestinians.

"Although many Palestinians may still prefer a genuine negotiated two-state solution, a failure of the present Annapolis initiative will greatly strengthen those who argue against this," the report said. "Most Palestinians are then likely to be convinced that a negotiated agreement is no longer possible."

A UN peacekeeper in Lebanon has been killed in an explosion while clearing munitions left over from the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

The sapper belonged to the 370-strong Belgian contingent in the peacekeeping force known as Unifil.

The incident happened at the village of Aitaroun, near the Israel border.

More than 30 people, mostly civilians, have died in explosions of leftover Israeli cluster bombs and landmines since the end of the 2006 war.

The UN says Israel dropped millions of cluster bombs on Lebanon in the last days of the fighting, and about 40% of their bomblets failed to explode on impact.

The UN - supported by anti-mine groups - called Israel's cluster bombing "shocking and immoral", as most were used when a resolution was clearly imminent.

But Israel says it used cluster bombs out of military necessity and in accordance with international law.

A spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre said 14 de-mining experts had died in similar explosions since 2006. They belonged to the Lebanese army, Unifil and private mine action teams.

We arrived safely last night. The trip home was much less eventful than the trip to Gaza and much less emotional. On board my boat, the FREE GAZA, was a family of Palestinians who had not been let out of the concentration camp called "Gaza" for five years. The mother had given birth to her youngest son four years ago, and the family, living in Cyprus, had not seen him. The joy on the faces of Hana's family was worth waiting the extra half day to leave. We had to make sure that the Cypriot authorities would allow them in.

As usual, the Palestinians will face the wrath of the Israeli military, because they had egg on their faces and will take it out on the weakest.

On board the LIBERTY was a 10-year-old boy whose leg had been shot off by the Israeli military. He was from Khan Younis. The story (and I haven't been able to verify it it yet) is that he was standing with his friend as an Israeli tank invaded his town. A sniper shot him through one leg, then when he stood to run, the sniper shot him through the other one, causing huge damage to the leg. It was amputated at the hip. Again, we had to wait for Cypriot authorities to give permission for him to transit to another country.

On the first page of the Cyprus Mail is a photo of the boy with Osama, one of our organizers. Even though we came in at 9 pm, the media was all over the quay waiting for us. Although we didn't get seasick this time, many of us, because we are so exhausted, are feeling the land effects today, swaying as we try to walk down the streets.

It has been a week of over-riding joy, sadness at the condition of so many sick and wounded Palestinians, hope for the future, and disbelief that we not only arrived safely but left safely. As we pulled out of Gaza yesterday, seven Israeli naval vessels surrounded the Palestinian fishermen who joyfully escorted us six miles out. The last view we had of Gaza was of the seven gunboats surrounding the fishermen. We've heard from our Israeli sources that they arrested four of them.