Arab League rejects Trump’s plan

The Arab League has completely rejected US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan during an emergency meeting in Egypt’s capital, saying it would not lead to a just peace deal.

In a statement yesterday, the pan-Arab bloc said it “rejects the US-Israeli ‘deal of the century’ considering that it does not meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people.”

Arab states also agreed “not to ... cooperate with the US administration to implement this plan,” adding that Israel should not to implement the initiative by force. They insisted on a two-state solution that includes a Palestinian state based on borders before the 1967 war, when Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

They also called for East Jerusalem to be the capital of the future Palestinian state.

Arab leaders also vowed “not to ... cooperate with the US administration to implement this plan”. They insisted on a two-state solution that includes a Palestinian state based on borders before the 1967 Six-Day War -- when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza -- and with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The US plan suggests that Israel would retain control of the contested city of Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and annex settlements on Palestinian lands. Trump said the Palestinians would be allowed to declare a capital adjacent to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas yesterday announced a cut of all ties with Israel and the United States, including security cooperation.

“We are informing you that there will be no relations with you (Israel) and the United States, including on security cooperation,” Abbas said at an extraordinary meeting of the pan-Arab bloc in Cairo.

The Palestinian leader said he would go to the United Nations Security Council soon to call for an international conference to re-launch negotiations with Israel.

He added that the US plan was in “violation of the (autonomy) accords” launched in Oslo in 1993 by Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel will have to “bear responsibility as an occupying power” for the Palestinian territories, Abbas said, adding that Palestinians will press ahead with their legitimate struggle using peaceful means.

This would be under the auspices of the diplomatic Quartet comprised of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, Abbas said.

“But we will not accept the US alone. We have tried it already,” he added.