The Palestinian government approved a plan to build an international airport in the West Bank, part of a bigger blueprint to claim a state within two years, an official said Tuesday.

"This is going to be one of the biggest Palestinian projects," Ghassan al-Khatib, a government spokesman, told Xinhua.

The airport would be built between Jericho and Jerusalem in the middle of the West Bank, according to al-Khatib.

Under the plan, an abandoned airstrip near Jerusalem called Qalandya airfield would be renovated. The government also wants to rebuild Gaza airport which Israel has gradually destroyed during its military operations in the Gaza Strip since 2000.

Palestinian statehood negotiations with Israel have stopped for more than a year. In June, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced a plan to ready Palestinians for a state by the end of 2011.

It is still unclear if Israel will allow Fayyad to go on his scheme, including the building of the airports in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as peace talks are suspended.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2009)