Arab League rejects Trump’s Mideast plan
Says it doesn’t meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people
Cairo: The Arab League on Saturday rejected US President Donald Trump’s controversial Middle East plan, saying it did not meet the “minimum rights” of the Palestinians.
The pan-Arab bloc convened in Cairo days after the US unveiled its plan which is seen as favouring Israel.
The meeting brought together Arab senior officials including Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash.
In a statement released afterwards, the League said it “rejects the US-Israeli ‘deal of the century’ considering that it does not meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people.”
Arab states also vowed “not to ... cooperate with the US administration to implement this plan.”
They insisted on a two-state solution that includes a Palestinian state based on borders before the 1967 Six-Day War - when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza - and with occupied east Jerusalem as its capital.
The US plan suggests that Israel would retain control of occupied Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and annex colonies on Palestinian lands.
Trump said Palestinians would be allowed to declare a capital within occupied east Jerusalem.
Abbas said on Saturday “there will be no relations” with Israel and the US including on security cooperation following their “disavowal of signed agreements and international legitimacy”.