Trump unveils Middle East peace plan with no Palestinian support

Plan offers route to Palestinian state but recognises Israeli settlements in West Bank

Oliver Holmes in Ramallah, Sufian Taha in Jerusalem, Hazem Balousha in Gaza and Chris McGreal
Tue 28 Jan 2020 20.03 GMT
First published on Tue 28 Jan 2020 17.23 GMT

Donald Trump has unveiled his vision for Middle East peace in a White House launch that gifted Israel a wishlist of its long-held demands while promising Palestinians a potential “state”, but with severe restrictions.

Standing next to the smiling Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump announced details of the 181-page plan to cheers and applause. Palestinian leaders were absent from the launch, having pre-emptively rejected his proposal, citing flagrant bias.

“Today, Israel takes a big step towards peace,” Trump said on Tuesday. “I was not elected to do small things or shy away from big problems.”

A copy of the plan, released by the White House, said the proposal intended to:
• Establish Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital, with a potential Palestinian capital to the east and north of the city.
• Recognise the vast majority of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory as part of the country. A Palestinian state would receive territory, mostly desert, near Gaza to compensate for the loss of about 30% of the West Bank. Gaza and the West Bank would be linked by high speed rail.
• Recognise the Jordan valley, which makes up about a third of the occupied West Bank, as part of Israel.

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