BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The secretary-general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Nayif Hawatmah will not return from Syria to the West Bank, despite reports to this effect, his party said on Sunday.

Hawatmah is the last veteran PLO leader still in exile.

Israel stipulated that the DFLP renounce armed struggle in exchange for the return of Hawatmah, and the party has rejected this condition, Talal Abu Tharifa, a member of the DFLP politburo, told Ma'an.

The group believes both armed struggle and political activity are necessary, he said.

The Beirut-based al-Liwaa newspaper quoted unidentified Palestinian sources on Thursday saying that 84-year-old Hawatmah's return from exile was imminent.