Palestinian economy is path to peace: Brown

“It is a challenge that if taken up can secure the greatest results of all: both prosperity and peace.

“It is a prize we have long dreamt of - it is a prize within our grasp.”

Fayyad said the Palestinian economy had been “ravaged for many, many years” and was performing “way below potential.”

“If it were not for those conditions of the past eight years, our economy could easily have been twice the size it is today.”

Abbas thanked Brown for his support as he called on Israel to ease closures of the Palestinian territories and halt the growth of Jewish settlements.

“What is required for these investments is to assure the freedom of movement of goods and of people,” Abbas said at the joint news conference, referring to Brown’s economic plans.

Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier is seen shooting an arrested and bound Palestinian in the leg with a plastic bullet, in a video released by an Israeli human rights group on Sunday.

B’Tselem’s footage shows the Palestinian demonstrator - identified as Ashraf Abu Rahman, 27 - with handcuffs and a blindfold, as a lieutenant colonel holds him by the arm.