RAMALLAH (Ma'an) – Israeli policy aims to retain the Palestinian Authority as a market for Israeli goods, PA Planning Minister Ali Jarbawi said Friday.

Speaking at a meeting with former Canadian Finance Minister Greg Selinger, Jarbawi said Israel was obstructing the development of the Palestinian private sector. Meanwhile, the PA was working hard to develop the sector as the core of a future Palestinian state, Jarbawi said.

The PA official said it was vital that the international community pressured Israel to lift its siege on Gaza, and to allow Palestinians to move freely in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem.

Justice in negotiations required that both parties were on an equal footing, Jarbawi said, a situation which was impossible when one party was occupying the other. The minister said Israeli and Palestinian negotiators could not be considered equal parties while Israel controlled the movement of individuals and goods inside Palestinian communities.

Further, Jarbawi said talks were useless while Israel continued to confiscate land on which a future Palestinian state would be established, adding "Our people will not accept a state of leftovers."

The minister thanked the Canadian government for its support to Palestinians, and urged that cooperation continued, particularly in the fields of education, agriculture and water.