Farouk Kaddoumi, a veteran PLO official, on Thursday dropped a political bombshell by calling for "returning" the West Bank to Jordan.
Kaddoumi, who is based in Tunisia, said he supported the idea of creating a federation or confederation between the West Bank and Jordan.
Kaddoumi's remarks, which came during an interview with the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, are the first of their kind to be voiced by a senior PLO figure in decades.
He is one of a few PLO leaders who refused to move from Tunisia to the Palestinian territories after the signing of the Oslo Accords, which he had strongly opposed.
Kaddoumi is one of the founders of Fatah, the largest PLO faction, and for decades serged as head of the PLO's "political department."
Kaddoumi told the newspaper in an interview in his office in the Tunisian capital that giving the West Bank back to Jordan would be a "positive move."
He said that the Palestinians should nevertheless see to it that such a step would not drop the refugees' "right to return."
"We launched our revolution for all of Palestine, and that's why we need to be very cautious," Kaddoumi said. "We must safeguard our people's right to return."
He said that he welcomed the return of the West Bank to Jordan. However, he stressed, "We must insist on the right of return for all refugees because this is the minimum that we could accept."
Kaddoumi launched a scathing attack on the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas for abandoning the armed struggle against Israel and failing their people.
"Undoubtedly, the Palestinian Authority has reached a dead-end," Kaddoumi stated. He said that the Oslo peace process has failed because Israel was seeking to dictate its terms and conditions on the Palestinians.
Referring to economic hardships in the West Bank, the PLO leader said that Palestinians' lives have become a tragedy due to "widespread starvation and harsh conditions."
Kaddoumi said that the Palestinians have lost hope of reaching an agreement with Israel that would ensure them their minimal rights.
"Unfortunately, Israel has seized most of the lands of the West Bank and the only way left for us is the national resistance," he said. "Regrettably, the Palestinian Authority and its president don not want any kind of resistance after they got rid of the fighters who say that resistance is the only want to liberate the land."
Kaddoumi acknowledged that Fatah has been weakened due to its failure to reform and return to the path of armed struggle.
He also slammed Abbas for "cutting of my salary." Abbas took the decision several years ago following harsh criticism against him by Kaddoumi.
He also scoffed at Abbas's renewed statehood bid at the UN, noting that the PLO had already obtained membership of the international organization in 1974.
He further pointed out that the UN had recognized the Palestinian state that was declared by Yasser Arafat in 1988. He said that 105 countries have since recognized the Palestinian state.
"By going back to the UN, Abbas is falsely creating the impression that he is making achievements that had already been achieved," Kaddoumi added.
Kaddoumi's remarks about returning the West Bank to Jordan apparently came in response to recent statements made by Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal, who served as crown prince between 1965 and 1999.
In a meeting with Palestinians in Amman, the prince said that the territories of the West Bank are actually part of the Hashemite Kingdom. He added that the two-state solution is irrelevant in the current stage.
Jordan officially renounced its claim to the West Bank in 1988, when the late King Hussein announced that his kingdom was cutting off its administrative and legal ties to the West Bank.