State Dept. spokesman says US is reviewing leaks, adds Washington committed to two-state solution, will continue working with on core issues.
Responding to Al Jazeera's release of over 1,000 PA documents relating to negotiations with Israel, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the US cannot verify the documents, via his Twitter account.
"The US government is reviewing the alleged Palestinian documents released by Al-Jazeera today [Sunday]. We cannot vouch for their veracity," Crowley tweeted. Several hours later, in the early hours of Monday morning, he added that the US "remains focused on a two-state solution and will continue to work with the parties to narrow existing differences on core issues."
In dramatic fashion, both Al-Jazeera and the Guardian published excerpts Sunday night of what they are calling “The Palestine Papers,” providing details – through the eyes of Palestinians involved in the negotiations – of nearly a decade of talks.
According to the Guardian, the documents were leaked over a period of months to Al- Jazeera and shared with the British newspaper, which said it had authenticated the bulk of the documents.
According to the paper, the documents, which will be published in the coming days, will show the “scale of Palestinian concessions,” including on Jerusalem and on the issue of refugees; the level of Israeli and Palestinian covert security cooperation; how Israeli leaders “privately asked for some Arab citizens to be transferred to a new Palestinian state”; and how British intelligence played a key role in drawing up a plan to crush Hamas.
In addition, the Guardian reported, the documents – not a part of the WikiLeaks dump of US diplomatic cables – will also show that the PA was tipped off about Operation Cast Lead.
Israeli government sources refrained from reporting on the documents Sunday night, saying they needed to see them first.
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