RAMMALAH, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei has warned that Israel's settlement expansion in the West Bank would complicate efforts to reach a final solution, local press reported Wednesday.

    "Annexing settlement blocs in the West Bank would leave the Palestinians without Jerusalem, which would make an independent Palestinian state a joke," Qurei told the Palestinian Daily al Ayyam.

    The Palestinians want to establish a viable and independent Palestinian state on the lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War with Jerusalem as its capital.

    "Jerusalem is subject to real dangers due to Israeli schemes that aim to isolate it, Judaize it and annex it completely," Qurei said.

    He added the annexation of Jerusalem, with the US approval, would leave the Palestinians with no water and no geographical continuity.

    He urged the international community to press Israel to stop this practice. Enditem