The Israeli army has a plan to reoccupy large parts of Palestinian-controlled territory if the Middle East peace process collapses, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.
Israel does not intend to take the land permanently but would use it as a "bargaining chip" in future negotiations under the secret plan codenamed "Field of Thorns," the magazine reports in its October 30 issue.
Israel has been transferring land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority under the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord. Further land transfer were to be part of a final peace deal between the two sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday Israel would take a "time out" in the seven-year Middle East peace process, citing the "language of threats" which emerged from the Arab summit in Cairo.
Newsweek also said that during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Paris in early October, French President Jacques Chirac urged Arafat to hold out for a better deal after he had already agreed to one.
Immediately following the Paris summit, Barak advisor Danny Yatom blamed France for the lack of an accord at the -- WASHINGTON (AFP)
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