US president Donald Trump with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in March 2019. (File photo: AP)
Washington (People’s Daily) – US President Donald Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan Tuesday at the White House alongside Israeli Premier Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump called for the establishment of a Palestinian State and a freeze on Israeli settlement operations.
But no one from the Palestinian side was invited to the event and Palestine expressed strong opposition to Trump's plan, which Trump has referred to as the "Deal of the Century."
This Middle East peace plan is the latest American venture to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is very beneficial to Israel. Trump promised to keep Jerusalem as Israel's “undivided capital.”
Trump proposed what he called "a realistic" two-state solution and said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes.
"This is a great deal," Trump said. "And the Palestinians may not have this opportunity ever again." Trump declared his plan is “the most detailed proposal ever put forward,” at around 80 pages.
Trump proposed a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. However, Palestinians need to meet many conditions, such as abandoning terrorism, carrying out political reforms, and enacting human rights and anti-corruption laws, etc.
Israel has thanked the US for its proposal. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu praised Trump as "the greatest friend that Israel has had in the White House." Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to "make history" and define Israel's final borders.
"The deal of the century is the opportunity of a century, and we're not going to pass it by," Netanyahu said.
But Palestinians rejected it in advance, calling it biased. The Palestinian leadership rejected the proposal even before its release as the plan was expected to be favorable to Israel.
"The US administration will not find a single Palestinian who supports this project," the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. "Trump's plan is the plot of the century to liquidate the Palestinian cause."
Palestinian Wafa News Agency reported that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh spoke on the phone on Tuesday, in which Haniyeh expressed support for Abbas's position and called for unity against Trump's peace plan.
Trump's plan has not been welcomed in the Gaza Strip where thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday, burning photos of Trump and Netanyahu, and raised banners reading "Palestine is not for sale."
The event comes on the day Trump's impeachment trial continues in the Senate and the Israeli parliament had planned a hearing to discuss Netanyahu's request for immunity from criminal corruption charges.
