JERUSALEM - Palestinian plans to establish a state by summer in agreement with Israel remain on track and they do not intend to seek alternatives such as unilateral recognition from the international community, a top Palestinian official said in a special interview with Israeli TV aired Saturday.
Later Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed five Gaza militants in the deadliest attack against the coastal strip in months. The Israeli military said the men were about to launch a rocket attack against southern Israeli communities when they were struck. Palestinian officials confirmed the five dead in central Gaza were militants but had no further details.
The militant Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, while the more moderate Palestinian Authority governs the West Bank.
The rare flare up in violence comes as Israel and the Palestinian Authority are at an impasse in peace talks over a Palestinian demand that Israel freeze Jewish settlements in areas Palestinians want for a future state.
Given the stalemate, some Palestinian officials have been trying to rally international recognition for an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem even without a deal with Israel.
However, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in the interview this is not his goal.
"What we are looking for now is a state of Palestine. We are not looking for yet another declaration of statehood. We are not looking for a unilateral declaration of statehood," he said in an interview with Israel's Channel 2 TV. "I really do not have a Plan B. ... I am not going to offer alternatives."
The interview was the first Fayyad has granted to an Israeli TV station since becoming prime minister in 2007. His comments suggested there are differences of opinion in the Palestinian leadership about peacemaking strategy.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several of his top aides have said repeatedly they are pursuing alternatives, arguing that there is little hope at this stage that meaningful negotiations on the terms of statehood can resume.
The main fallback strategy involves seeking recognition from as many countries as possible of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
Recently, Brazil and Argentina granted such recognition, and Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath told reporters Saturday that he expects three more countries, including Uruguay, to follow suit.
He said he also expects three more European countries to upgrade Palestinian representation in coming weeks, after Norway took that step earlier this week. Spain, Portugal and France have already done so.
In addition, the Palestinians plan to go to the U.N. Security Council to seek a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, he said.
Earlier this month, the Obama administration acknowledged that it had failed to persuade Israel to extend a curb on settlement construction without which the Palestinians won't resume negotiations.
Shaath said U.S.-led peace efforts were in a "deep coma" and that he did not expect negotiations to resume anytime soon. He expressed disappointment over Washington's handling over the negotiations, saying that he believes U.S. attempt to engage in shuttle diplomacy, now that the door to direct talks is close, is "totally useless."
Fayyad, on the other hand, used his rare appearance before an Israeli media outlet to reaffirm his rejection of violence and call on peace talks to be resumed.
"We should not be discouraged because we have failed so many times before. It doesn't mean that we should give up," he said.
Nir Hefetz, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, welcomed the comments.
Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, is credited with an economic upturn in the West Bank and improving law and order after a decade of violence. He has earned praise for taking steps to build a Palestinian state from the ground up -- paving roads, reforming the judiciary and planning new cities -- and by renouncing violence against Israel.
He is well respected by both American and Israeli officials, though he has angered some in Israel for his aggressive campaign to boycott West Bank settlements. In one famous incident, he tossed products made in Jewish settlements into a bonfire.
"The issue is not the delegitimization of Israel but the delegitimization of the occupation," he said. "We want to make peace with Israel. We have recognized their right to exist. The issue for us is the continued occupation."
