The announcement comes after Trump met with Israeli regime's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main political rival Benjamin ‘Benny’ Gantz. The Palestinian authorities have repeatedly objected to the plan, as its details were trickling out, and mass protests are expected in the Palestinian territories as Israel tightens security measures.
Trump said that under his plan, Jerusalem will remain Israel's 'undivided' capital.
However, Israel would freeze the construction of new settlements on Palestinian territories for four years while Palestinian statehood is negotiated. Trump said that the US will open an embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem, Sputnik news agency reported.
The US president claimed that his so-called Palestine-Israel map would "more than double" the Palestinian territory.
He added that the US and Israel would create a committee to implement the plan.
On Monday, Donald Trump held separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz. Neither of the two managed to achieve a decisive victory in general elections in April or September last year, and a third vote is scheduled for March to break the impasse.
Trump had not met with any Palestinian representatives prior to the announcement; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had reportedly turned down several offers to discuss the so-called proposal.
Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza have called for mass protests against the so-called peace plan, prompting the Israeli military to reinforce troops in the Jordan Valley.
Abbas reportedly greenlighted a “Day of Rage” over the so-called Trump plan on Wednesday, paving the way for violent clashes between protesters and Israeli forces. He is currently holding an emergency meeting of the executive bodies of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah party.
Palestinians have also floated the possibility of quitting the Oslo accords, which created the Palestinian Authority and regulate its relations with Israel.
The Oslo accords, signed in the 1990s, officially created the Palestinian Authority as a structure tasked with exercising self-governance over the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Trump has largely outsourced the creation of the so-called plan to his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The initial idea was to publish it after the April 2019 election in Israel, but the uncertainty hanging over the Knesset over the past year has delayed the announcement.
Jared Kushner unveiled the economic portion of the so-called plan this past summer at a conference in Bahrain, but failed to shore up support from Palestinians and faced widespread condemnation instead.
MNA/PR
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