Palestinian state likely not in US proposed peace plan: Report

newsweek

JARED KUSHNER'S MIDDLE EAST PEACE PLAN PANNED BY FORMER EUROPEAN LEADERS BEFORE IT'S EVEN RELEASED

European leaders have criticized the Trump administration’s approach to a Middle East peace plan, arguing that the current U.S. government had abandoned international norms.

In an open letter written to The Guardian on Sunday, a group of nearly 40 former high-ranking European leaders, including Sweden’s former Prime Minister Carl Bildt, Germany’s former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel, the U.K.’s former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and Belgium's former Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, argued that Europe must continue to support a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine regardless of what the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan looks like.

“Unfortunately, the current U.S. administration has departed from longstanding US policy and distanced itself from established international legal norms,” the letter reads. “It has so far recognized only one side’s claims to Jerusalem and demonstrated a disturbing indifference to Israeli settlement expansion. The U.S. has suspended funding for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and for other programs benefiting Palestinians—gambling with the security and stability of various countries located at Europe’s doorstep,” it continued.

aljazeera

A United States's proposal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, dubbed "the deal of the century", will likely not include a fully sovereign Palestinian state, the Washington Post reported.

According to sources familiar with the main elements of the deal, the agreement pledged practical improvements in the lives of Palestinians but stops short of securing a Palestinian state.

The White House is expected to reveal its long-awaited peace deal, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, later this year.

While officials have kept details of the plan secret, comments from Kushner and other US officials suggest that it "does away with statehood as the starting premise of peace efforts", the Washington Post reported.

The plan is likely to focus heavily on Israeli security concerns.

It revolves around a proposal that foresees major infrastructure and industrial work, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip.

For the plan to succeed or even pass the starting gate, it will need at least initial buy-in from both Israel and the Palestinians as well as from the Gulf Arab states, which officials say will be asked to substantially bankroll the economic portion.