Washington, Jan 29 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Tuesday presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, envisaging a two-state solution but keeping Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
He said said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes under the plan, the BBC reported.
Announcing the plan from the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing next to him, Trump said his plan “could be the last opportunity” for Palestinians, which, he said, “are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism”.
“They deserve a far better life,” he said.
Palestinians have already all but rejected the leaked proposals.
The blueprint, which has been shrouded in secrecy, was drafted under the stewardship of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday, while the Israeli military deployed reinforcements in the occupied West Bank.
Trump said it was the first time that Israel had authorised “the release of a conceptual map illustrating the territorial compromises it is willing to make for the cause of peace”, adding the map would more than double the Palestinian territory and provide them a capital in eastern Jerusalem “where America will proudly open an embassy”.
“We will form a joint committee with Israel to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering so that recognition can be immediately be achieved.”
–IANS
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