Palestinians deride US' peace plan

RAMALLAH - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed creating a Palestinian state as part of a Middle East peace plan, but his long-awaited deal drew condemnation from the Palestinians for imposing strict conditions while letting Israel maintain control of contested West Bank settlements.

Trump announced his plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace at a White House event with embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side. It includes what Trump called a four-year freeze by Israel on the building of settlements.

According to The Associated Press, Trump's plan envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel. It sides with Israel on key contentious issues that have bedeviled past peace efforts, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and the Jewish settlements. It also attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state.

Although Trump's stated aim was to end decades of conflict, the plan he advanced favors Israel, underscored by the absence of Palestinians from Trump's announcement, reports said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as "nonsense" and vowed to resist it.

Netanyahu called it a "historic breakthrough" equal in significance to the country's declaration of independence in 1948. "It's a great plan for Israel. It's a great plan for peace," he said.

He vowed to immediately press forward with his plans to annex the strategic Jordan Valley and all the Israeli settlements in occupied lands. Netanyahu said he would ask his Cabinet to approve the annexation plans in their next meeting on Sunday, an explosive move that could trigger harsh international reaction and renewed violence with the Palestinians, AP reported.

Trump called his plan a "win-win" for Israel and the Palestinians, and urged the Palestinians not to miss their opportunity for independence. But Abbas, who accuses the US of bias toward Israel, rejected it out of hand.

'Slap of the century'

Abbas mocked what Trump has called the "deal of the century", describing it as the "slap of the century".

Palestinians have refused to deal with the Trump administration in protest at pro-Israel policies such as moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the eastern part of which is sought by the Palestinians.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected the plan as "disgraceful".

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said it is the "betrayal of the century" and is "doomed to failure".

"Palestine belongs to the Palestinians," he said. "The Zionist regime (of Israel) is an occupying regime, and the only way to settle the Palestinian cause is a referendum among the real inhabitants of the lands."

Given the importance of the Palestinian issue and the major "conspiracy" behind Trump's deal, Iran is ready to cooperate at any level to forge unity in the Muslim world and "thwart the big plot that has endangered Muslim nations", he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday also called Trump's proposal for peace in the Middle East a "nightmare for (the) region".

Hesameddin Ashena, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, tweeted: "Trump's peace plan is merely a deal between the United States and Israel."

Besides, "this is not a peace plan but a plan of imposition", he added.

Xinhua