TEL AVIV – The Trump administration’s plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will likely include U.S. and international recognition of a Palestinian state with a capital in eastern Jerusalem, the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday.
The Old City of Jerusalem will fall under “international protection,” the report claimed, quoting “knowledgeable Arab diplomatic sources” in Paris.
According to the sources, President Donald Trump’s Middle East team will present its plan at an undisclosed date during an international conference to be held in one of the Arab capitals, most likely Cairo, attended by Israeli officials.
The report also said the plan calls for the Palestinians to give up their core demand of the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and their descendants to reclaim their former homes inside Israeli territory.
While rumors of the purported plan continue to swirl in the Arab world, nothing has been officially confirmed. Still, Palestinian officials have called it the “slap of the century” that no Palestinian would ever accept. Several senior Palestinian Authority officials have wildly claimed that the U.S. administration, together with Israel, is looking to destroy the Palestinian cause and oust its current leadership.
The report also said the large settlement blocs would remain where they are while smaller ones would be transferred elsewhere.
The framework would also see the PA’s security and administrative authorities bolstered in areas A and B — where there are only Palestinian populations — of the West Bank, the report added.
$40 billion in funds will be raised by the U.S. to help establish a Palestinian state. However, the sources stressed to the paper, the money is not intended to “buy” Palestinian compliance. READ MORE
