Report: 'Deal of century' won't include Palestinian state
US President Donald Trump's peace plan will propose establishing Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip with political and economic links to the West Bank, according to the the Al-Quds newspaper; Jewish settlements will remain under Israel's jurisdiction, but will not be expanded.
US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century" to achieve peace in the Middle East will not include establishing a Palestinian state, and instead will propose Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip with political and economic links to the West Bank, the Al-Quds newspaper reported on Thursday.
In addition, the Palestinians will hold negotiations with Israel over Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli military control.
Furthermore, the Jewish settlements will remain under Israel's jurisdiction, but will not be expanded, according to Al-Quds.
The deal will also include strengthening cooperation between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians over the management of the Al Aqsa mosque.
Moreover, most of IDF checkpoints will be removed, enabling the Palestinians free movement across the West Bank. However, Area B and area C will remain under complete Israeli control.
Sources involved in the formulation of the deal said that some $25 billion will be invested in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in addition the US will transfer an additional $40 billion to Egypt, Jordan and possibly Lebanon "to ensure their cooperation" in implementing the deal.
The report comes three days after Kushner, Trump's senior advisor and son-in-law, told Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi: "We want to get advice from them (countries in the region) on what is the best way to proceed and share with them some of the details of what we will be pursuing, especially on the economic vision for all the opportunity that exists if there is peace."
In an interview broadcast on Monday on Sky News Arabia during a visit to US-allied Gulf Arab states, Kushner made no specific mention of a Palestinian state, whose creation had been a key goal of Washington's peace efforts for two decades.
Kushner, who has responsibility for Washington's Israel-Palestinian policy, has said the peace plan will address final-status issues of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including establishing borders.
But he said the long-awaited peace proposal would build on "a lot of the efforts in the past," including the 1990s Oslo accords that provided a foundation for Palestinian statehood, and would require concessions from both sides.
He added the deal focuses on permanently solving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and that the Americans wish to see Gaza and the West Bank united under one leadership.
"Addressing the matter of the Israeli-Palestinian borders will ensure free movement of people and goods (across the West bank), leading to new opportunities. The Palestinian economy is restricted as long as peace is not achieved," he said.
On Wednesday, Kushner met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and the two discussed increasing US-Turkish cooperation and ways to boost economic conditions in the region.
"They discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Turkey, and the Trump administration's efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," the White House said. "Additionally, they discussed ways to improve the condition of the entire region through economic investment."
