Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday said at a meeting with left-wing group Peace Now and members of the Knesset that Trump's negotiation team had offered him a peace deal based on a confederation with Jordan.
Abbas commented that he would agree to such a plan under the condition that Israel were part of the confederation.
Abbas commented that he would agree to such a plan under the condition that Israel were part of the confederation.
"I want a three-party confederation with Jordan and Israel and I am asking Israel to accept such a proposal," Abbas was quoted as saying.
According to him, it was Israel that refused to negotiate on important issues and even to meet him in the past.
"I met Trump four times," Abbas emphasized, arguing that he was in favor of a demilitarized state of Palestine.
"I have a problem with Netanyahu, not with the Likud," he clarified.
"I met Trump four times," Abbas emphasized, arguing that he was in favor of a demilitarized state of Palestine.
"I have a problem with Netanyahu, not with the Likud," he clarified.
Abbas says Trump team offered Palestinian-Jordanian confederation
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Trump administration’s Middle East team offered him a political plan for a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation.
Abbas says he expressed willingness to agree to a potential confederation only if Israel agreed to join.
He makes the remarks at a meeting with Knesset members and activists from the NGO Peace Now in Ramallah.
He says that when US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt and adviser Jared Kushner floated the idea of a confederation he expressed support for the proposal.
“I said: ‘Yes, I want a tripartite confederation with Jordan and Israel, and I asked whether the Israelis would agree to such a proposal.'”
Abbas goes on to say that he supports Israel’s security, and wants to solve the Palestinian refugee problem.
He claims that Netanyahu is refusing to sit down and begin peace talks. He says Netanyahu has turned down several meetings initiated by Russia, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium.
“I have a problem with Netanyahu, not Likud,” he says.
Abbas says that he has met with Trump four times, and that the US president told him he supported the idea of a demilitarized Palestinian state that will be defended by NATO forces. He adds, however, that he is against the Trump administration’s peace plan.
He also slams the US decision to cut funding to UNRWA, saying the administration was “trying to sabotage” the Palestinian aid agency.
Pope seeks talks to avert ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Syria
Pope Francis is pressing for negotiations to avoid a “humanitarian catastrophe” from a looming battle in Syria.
Francis appeals to the international community and “all the actors involved” to use diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations “in respect for international humanitarian law and to safeguard the lives of civilians.”
Addressing faithful in St. Peter’s Square, Francis says “the winds of war are still blowing and troubling news reaches us about the risks of a possible humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria’s Idlib province.
That’s where Syrian opposition forces have dug trenches around their bases, anticipating a ground offensive on their last major stronghold. The battle for Idlib might be the last in seven years of civil war.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Idlib area have nowhere to flee.
French FM says Syria’s Assad has ‘won the war’
France’s foreign minister says Syrian President Bashar Assad has won his country’s civil war but won’t “win the peace” without a political solution brokered by the international community.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also reiterates threats of Western retaliation if Assad cedes to the “temptation” of using chemical weapons in the looming battle for the northern Idlib province, the last major opposition stronghold.
Le Drian says on France-Inter radio that “Assad won the war, we have to state this. But he hasn’t won the peace.”
He says that even if Assad’s forces retake Idlib, that won’t solve the problems that unleashed the war seven years ago.
He says France will press at this month’s UN General Assembly for a political solution in Syria, and is holding talks with Russia, Turkey and Iran to push them to use their influence with Assad to ensure political negotiations after the war ends.
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