Support among Palestinians for a binational state with Israel will grow should US-brokered talks on creating an independent Palestine fail, a Palestinian think tank forecast in a new report released today.

Israel has long rejected the idea of becoming a binational country, in which Jews would lose their majority. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he remains committed to a two-state solution despite slow-moving negotiations.

A 50-page document, formulated by the Palestine Strategy Studies Group (PSSG) and titled "Palestinian Strategic Options to End the Israeli Occupation", noted Palestinian frustration over Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

"If the current negotiations fail, Palestinians will be driven to replace the 1988 (two-state solution) offer (by the Palestine Liberation Organisation) by a new strategy, not just rhetorically but in reality," the report said.

"The negotiated two-state outcome will then be definitely cancelled," it added.

The PSSG is made up of 30 Palestinian intellectuals and professionals from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the diaspora. The study was funded by the European Union.

The document has sparked a debate within the Palestinian society on the next steps to be taken should negotiators fail to meet Washington's goal of achieving at least a framework peace deal by the end of the year.

Palestinian negotiators have said that Israeli proposals fall short of Palestinian aspirations for a viable state on lands Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war.

Abbas plans to meet U.S. President George W. Bush on September 26 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki said.

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