Abu dis, Jan 8: Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said on Thursday Palestinians would seek to forge a single bi-national state with Israel if Israel carried out its threat to absorb chunks of the West Bank.

Mr Qorei's comments underscored the Palestinians' sense of desperation in the face of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan to impose a boundary stripping them of some of the land they want for a state if peacemaking remains frozen.

Israelis strongly oppose the scenario of a single state made up of Palestinians and Israelis, fearing that unless they separate from the Palestinians, Israel could end up ruling an area in which Jews would soon be a minority.

Qorei said Sharon's unilateralism, including a vast barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, could prompt Palestinians to abandon efforts for a two-state solution to the conflict.

"This is an apartheid solution to put the Palestinians in cantons. Who can accept this?" he said in an interview in his office in the West Bank town of Abu Dis near Jerusalem.

"We will go for a one-state solution...There's no other solution. We will not hesitate to defend the right of our people when we feel the very serious intention (of Israel) to destroy these rights."

Sharon has indicated that he hopes to pre-empt a bi-national situation by vacating smaller, more remote Jewish settlements that will not be encompassed by the Israeli barrier, casting off responsibility for the Palestinian population beyond.

Sharon's allies say unilateral actions will be necessary to protect Israel's security unless Mr Qorei's government takes action against militants who have spearheaded suicide bombings.-Reuters