A senior Palestinian official stressed on Saturday that it is impossible to reach a peace agreement with Israel without having east Jerusalem as the capital of the future state of Palestine.

Nabil Abu Rdineh, the media aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in an emailed press statement that the Palestinians would never accept less than east Jerusalem being the capital of their future independent nation.

Abu Rdineh was commenting on earlier statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that he refuses to negotiate the issue of Jerusalem.

Israel considers all Jerusalem, including its east captured in 1967, as the eternal capital of the state of Israel, while the Palestinians want the eastern part of the holy city to be the capital of their state.

"We refuse to delete any of the major permanent status issues, mainly Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees' right to return, and also the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails," said Abu Rdineh.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli Haaretz Daily reported that Netanyahu informed ministers in his ruling Likud Party that he will reject the inclusion of east Jerusalem in a peace framework agreement the United States is trying to broker between Israel and the Palestinians.