US deal violates UN resolutions, Palestinian sovereignty: Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has firmly dismissed an American plan supposedly aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it is in breach of United Nations resolutions and Palestinian sovereignty.

“I would like to say to Mr. Donald Trump that his plan cannot achieve peace and security as it cancels international legitimacy,” Abbas told the UN Security Council in a speech on Tuesday, referring to the US president.

“It cancels all the rights of the Palestinians. This does not meet the aspirations of a two-state solution,” he added.

Stressing that the plan would legitimize Israel’s illegal settlements and the annexation of occupied Palestinian land, Abbas said, “If you impose peace, it will not last, it cannot last. What gives you the right to annex these lands?”

The Palestinian president also called on the international community not to consider the plan as an international reference for negotiations, saying, “It is an Israeli-American preemptive plan in order to put an end to the question of Palestine.”

Trump unveiled the scheme’s outlines on January 28. The plan features the recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital,” although Palestinians want the city’s eastern part as the capital of their future state.

Trump outlines contentious Palestine scheme, says Quds will be Israel’s ‘undivided capital’

Trump repeats his hugely-controversial endorsement of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” as he outlines his administration’s self-styled Mideast plan.

The US president also said under the plan, Israel would be annexing the settlements that it has been building in the West Bank since occupying the Palestinian territory in 1967.

This is while all previous foreign-mediated draft agreements between the Palestinians and Israelis as well as repeated United Nations resolutions have mandated Tel Aviv to withdraw behind the 1967 borders.

Demonstrations held in support of Abbas

The speech delivered by Abbas at the UN came as thousands of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank once again protested against Trump’s so-called “deal of the century.”

The protesters, estimated to be 5,000 to 7,000 in number, gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.

Demanding the international recognition of Palestine with Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital, the demonstrators chanted “Palestine not for sale,” and “No to the deal of the century,” using Trump’s self-congratulatory description of the plan.

Similar mass demonstrations also took place elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, as some 2,000 people came out in support of the Palestinian president and to voice firm objection to the deal.

“As the world watches you and all these crowds that fill the streets of Ramallah and Gaza, they will understand the Palestinian reaction [to the plan],” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh while addressing the crowds in Ramallah.

“These people sent a message to President Abbas that we stand behind you to bring down the deal of shame,” he added.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces after dozen of protesters marched to an Israeli military checkpoint north of Ramallah.

Palestine’s official Wafa news agency quoted witnesses as saying that Israeli soldiers “showered the Palestinians with teargas canisters,” and fired rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse the protesters.

The Palestinians responded by pelting the soldiers with stones and by burning tires.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, including two shot by Israeli rubber bullets.

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