Washington's Middle East peace plan would cement the situation of "apartheid", if accepted, as this would mean Palestine's submission for the Israeli military rule, Hugh Lovatt, Middle East policy expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Sputnik, soon after the Palestinian Authority cut all ties with the United States and Israel after rejecting the controversial deal
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2020) Washington's Middle East peace plan would cement the situation of "apartheid", if accepted, as this would mean Palestine's submission for the Israeli military rule, Hugh Lovatt, Middle East policy expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Sputnik, soon after the Palestinian Authority cut all ties with the United States and Israel after rejecting the controversial deal.
On Saturday, Arab League foreign ministers, who gathered in Egypt's Cairo for an extraordinary meeting to assess US President Donald Trump's proposal for ending the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, rejected the so-called deal of the century, calling it "unjust," and urged the international community to counter any Israeli attempt to implement it. At the same meeting, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian Authority was cutting all ties with the US and Israel, including those relating to security.
"The plan is destructive to the two-state solution and the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. All the immediate costs are inflicted on Palestinians and all the immediate benefits are given to Israel. Over the long term this will cement a situation of apartheid," Lovatt said.
The expert added that under no circumstances Palestine could accept the deal.
"This requires the complete and unconditional submission of Palestinians to open-ended Israeli military rule. No Palestinian leader can ever do that," Lovatt noted.
Asked whether the peaceful resolution envisioned in the "deal of the century" was possible under the auspices of the Middle East Quartet, and not solely under that of Washington, Lovatt stressed that the format has lost its importance, but added that no other mediation process to facilitate the resolution of the crisis exists at this point.
"The Middle East Quartet no longer exists. And there is no prospect of any process beyond Israeli-US coordination to advance Israel's de jure annexation of occupied Palestinian land," Lovatt said.
Trump formally unveiled the "deal of the century" on January 28. Under the plan, Israel would annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, and have Jerusalem as its "undivided capital." Meanwhile, a demilitarized Palestinian state is offered the adjacent village of Abu Dis as its capital and $50 billion in investment to "spur the Palestinian economy."
Trump's plan has triggered a strong backlash across the world, with Palestine insisting on restoring its pre-1967 borders and having Jerusalem as its capital.
