Palestine/Israeli update 4/19/2019..Israeli occupation forces assault Palestinian civilians before home demolitions

Israeli occupation forces assault Palestinian civilians before home demolitions

Trump’s so-called ‘peace’ plan for Palestine dead on arrival

US President Donald Trump’s so-called “peace plan” has been dismissed by Palestinian authorities before its unveiling at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said Wednesday that the plan would be unveiled until June. “We will all have to look for reasonable compromises that will make peace achievable,” Kushner said.

President Trump is preparing an agreement that heavily undermines the Palestinian people’s rights to a sovereign nation, the Washington Post reports. Speaking in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah Tuesday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minster Mohammad Shtayyeh lashed out at Trump’s initiative allegedly to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, asserting that it is “born dead.”

Trump’s “deal of the century” comes in the backdrop of his recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime. Shtayyeh noted that negotiations with the US are useless in the wake f the country’s relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, which Palestinians consider the capital city of their future state. The European Union’s foreign policy chief insists that the 28-nation bloc is opposed to Israel’s claim of “sovereignty” to Syria’s Golan Heights and other occupied land.

“Deal of the century which was presented to us, which we do not think that there is anything left of it that was not publicized yet, and if there is anything left that has not been publicized yet, then it must be worse than what was made public, and therefore, from the beginning we came to understand that such a plan will not be accepted by us,” he said. “It’s enough that it excluded Jerusalem from Palestine, we do not want to hear the rest. What kind of solution and cause does President Trump plan to discuss? I doubt that there is a point to having discussions with him after he moved the embassy to Jerusalem, and announced that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel.”

The Palestinian premier further suggested that Trump’s pro-Israel policies has left him with no allies among Palestinians or even Europeans. “There are no partners in Palestine for Trump. There are no Arab partners for Trump and there are no European partners for Trump,” Shtayyeh said. He further censured Trump over declaring a “financial war” on the Palestinian population.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories. Trump backtracked on Washington’s support for a “two-state solution” in 2017, saying he would support any solution favored by both sides.

Clash between Palestinians and Israelis on the border with Gaza

Israeli gas teargas against protesters in Gaza

Israel’s Post-elections

Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu is hard at work forming his new government, trying to balance the contradictory demands by his would-be coalition partners. What is to be expected of the new Israeli cabinet in the months ahead?

Netanyahu’s Reelection: Implications for Israeli Politics and Palestinian Statehood