The Palestinian leadership faces decisions about the peace process that will "change the face of the region," presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said on Thursday.

"The coming weeks and months will be crucial and form an important crossroads, particularly in terms of the peace process in the region," the spokesman for president Mahmud Abbas told AFP.

"The Palestinian leadership faces a major test including taking big decisions that will change the face of the region," he said.

The Palestinians are currently waiting for the outcome of a UN Security Council meeting on November 11, when members will discuss Abbas's request for full state membership, despite fierce opposition from Israel and the United States.

Last week, Abbas raised the issue of the future of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the face of the persistent deadlock in peace talks.

Created in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo accords, the PA was set up to prepare for the emergence of a state following a final peace deal with Israel.

Abbas has said that if talks remain stalled, the Palestinians might consider dismantling the PA entirely, although no serious steps in that direction have yet been taken.

The two parties have had no direct contact for more than a year, and attempts by the so-called Quartet of Middle East diplomatic players to jumpstart the process have led nowhere.

The Palestinians say they will not enter peace talks while Israel builds settlements on land they want for a future state.

And Israel says it will only enter negotiations if there are no preconditions laid down.

The distance between the sides has only increased in recent days with the admission of Palestine as a full member of the UN cultural organisation, UNESCO.

The move infuriated Israel, prompting the Jewish state to announce it was speeding up settlement construction and suspending the transfer of tax money to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel holds major missile defence drill
Tel Aviv (AFP) Nov 3, 2011 - Israel began a major civil defence drill in the Tel Aviv region on Thursday aimed at simulating the response to conventional and non-conventional missile attacks, the military said.

"The rescue units of the civil defence, police, fire service and Magen David Adom (emergency services) will participate in the exercise," an army statement said.

The exercise began shortly after 10:00 am (0800 GMT) with the sounding of sirens for a full minute and a half throughout the region around the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Rescue teams were then dispatched to "evacuate hundreds of wounded after conventional and non-conventional missile attacks" to hospitals participating in the simulation, civil defence official Colonel Adam Zussman told army radio.

"We are going to test all the possible scenarios, including attacks causing significant damage," he said.

Israeli media reported that evacuation and absorption centres would be opened across the region and that gas masks would be distributed.

Military officials said the exercise was long planned, but it comes as speculation in Israel grows about the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against Iran, with media here reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking cabinet support for such an operation.

On Wednesday, Israel tested a rocket-propulsion system that local media said was capable of firing ballistic missiles, although officials here declined to comment on the specifics of the system and said the test was also long scheduled.

A poll published by the Haaretz daily on Thursday found Israeli public opinion divided on a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, with 41 percent in favour, 39 percent opposed and 20 percent undecided.