EU warns Trump’s peace plan ‘cannot pass unchallenged’, as Tehran calls for expulsion of Israelis ‘through jihad’

While the controversial plan initially received a warm response from some Gulf states, criticism is now increasing, writes Bel Trew

A Palestinian woman slams her shoes on a portrait of Trump during a demonstration in Gaza City (AFP/Getty)

Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan is facing a new wave of criticism from world bodies, including the EU and some Gulf states that initially welcomed the deal, over fears it ignores Palestinian rights.

They also expressed concern that it green-lights Israel’s plan to imminently annex areas of the occupied West Bank.

Mr Trump’s efforts to kickstart the stagnant peace process last week were at first met with relatively positive comments from European and some Arab countries, who urged the Palestinians to give negotiations a chance.

However, the EU has rejected the 181-page deal saying the details “depart” from internationally agreed solutions to the decades-long crisis. The body threatened legal action if any annexation steps were implemented.

It followed a damning statement from the African Union as well as public rebukes by the 22-nation Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, which had tentatively lauded Mr Trump’s work upon release.

A proposed United Nations resolution, drafted by Indonesia and Tunisia, condemning the peace plan and the calls for annexation is expected to be voted on this week. The US is likely to veto it.

On Wednesday the Supreme leader of Iran, Israel’s arch foe, went a step further, saying Palestinians should confront the deal by forcing Israelis and Americans out “through jihad”.

Mr Trump heralded his plan as a “great deal” during the launch which Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended in Washington last Tuesday.

Mr Netanyahu, who accompanied the American president on stage, declared it as “best plan for Israel and the best plan for peace”.

In the audience were Christian Zionist leaders, staunch pro-Israel supporters and ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.

Israeli media later revealed that the Gulf ambassadors may not have been given access to the full document before the launch.

In the agreement, Israel is given the contested city of Jerusalem as its capital as well as swathes of the occupied West Bank, where some 750,000 Israelis live in settlements deemed illegal under international law.

The proposed Palestinian state has to be demilitarised with little to no control over its internal security, borders, coastlines or airspace. The plan also said there would be no return of Palestinian refugees to Israeli territory.

However, it details some $50bn (£39bn) worth of investments which the Palestinians can enjoy over the next decade if they agree to the terms.

The fractured Palestinian leadership, in a rare show of unity, vehemently rejected the deal, with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas calling it “nonsense”.

World leaders, however, initially welcomed the initiative, with British prime minister Boris Johnson saying it “could prove a positive step forwards” and foreign secretary Dominic Raab urging “genuine and fair consideration”.

But responses have started to change, particularly after Mr Netanyahu vowed to push ahead with plans to annex the strategic Jordan Valley ahead of Israel’s general election on 2 March.

Tensions have soared meanwhile, with sporadic cross-border exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and armed factions in Gaza.

Overnight on Wednesday Israelis shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian police cadet during a house demolition in the West Bank town of Jenin, just hours after they shot dead a 17-year-old taking part in a violent protest against the plan also in the West Bank, Palestinian medical officials said. In Jerusalem early on Thursday, 12 Israeli soldiers were injured, one of them severely wounded, in a car-ramming incident next to a popular entertainment district that Israeli officials said they were treating as a “terror attack”.

In a statement on Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell emphasised the bloc’s commitment to a two-state solution along the 1967 lines made up of the Israel and “an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable state of Palestine”.

Mr Borrel said the US initiative “departs from these internationally agreed parameters”.

He will hold talks with Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law who co-authored the deal, and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo this week. Mr Kushner said last week that the US would not support Israel annexing settlements in the occupied West Bank until after Israel’s elections in March.

“To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties,” Mr Borrell said. “This includes notably the issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question.”

He added that he was especially concerned by the prospect of annexation and suggested that the EU might consider legal action, by saying “steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged”.

The African Union also sounded the alarm about the deal in a statement on Monday. AU commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said the body “notes with great concern” that the agreement “constitutes a serious violation of [the Palestinians’] fundamental rights”.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, meanwhile, said that while the kingdom welcomed efforts to push for negotiations, the deal itself fell short of ensuring the rights of the Palestinian people “through the creation of an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital”.

He spoke at a Jeddah gathering of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which rejected the White House’s plan as “biased”.

The group said the US proposal “lacks the minimum requirements of justice and destroys the foundations of peace”.

Days before, Arab League nations had already unanimously rejected the White House’s proposals in Cairo, although Egypt had again initially voiced support for Washington’s attempt to reignite peace discussions.

Speaking on Saturday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas threatened to cut security ties with Israel.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday it would support Palestinian armed factions as much as it can in confronting the US plan.

“We believe that Palestinian armed organisations will stand and continue resistance and the Islamic Republic sees supporting Palestinian groups as its duty,” the supreme leader said in a speech.

Khamenei also attacked Arab leaders who have supported the Trump plan, calling them “traitorous” and “worthless”.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, broke from the EU’s position after meeting Mr Kushner, saying it was a “fair and balanced approach” to the conflict and “suitable for creating peace”.