TEL AVIV, July 2: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Tuesday expressed doubt that planned Palestinian elections can take place while the Israeli army remains in the territories.

“I am not sure the Palestinians can have elections while the army is in the territories and I don’t see the army coming out of the territories if there is still terror,” he told delegates at the Labor party convention in Tel Aviv.

As the party faithful met to thrash out and ratify its political platform and set out a way for peace with the Palestinians, Peres warned against alienating the Palestinian people.

“We have to make sure that the problems with (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat don’t turn into hatred for all the Palestinian people,” he warned.

“Let us not put the Palestinian people in a situation where they are suffering from hunger, from thirst, from poverty,” said the dovish foreign minister, who has often been at odds with the hardline policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The price for peace was that there should be a Palestinian state next to the state of Israel, he said.

“There is no other solution in the world. We all know there is no choice but to pull out of the territories or at least most of them,” he said to applause.

The seriousness of the issues meant the party had to put aside its internal wranglings, he said.

“This is one of our most serious hours — and we have to fight as one man.”—AFP