Hamas slams Arab envoys' presence at US plan release

By Nour Abu Eisha

GAZA City, Palestine (AA) - The leader of Hamas on Wednesday condemned the participation of the ambassadors from three Arab countries in Tuesday's unveiling of the so-called "deal of the century" proposed by the U.S.

"We express our regret for the presence of [some] Arab countries in Trump's announcement of his so-called peace plan," Ismail Haniyeh said in a press statement to the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network, published online by Hamas.

Haniyeh stressed that Arab countries needed to be "supportive to the Palestinian position and not to violate historical positions."

On Tuesday, the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman took part in the conference announcing the plan.

Haniyeh reiterated Hamas' rejection of "any agreement or project that detracts from the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people."

On Tuesday, Trump released his oft-delayed plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute during a press conference at the White House, where he was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Palestinian authorities were not represented.

During the news conference, Trump referred to Jerusalem as "Israel's undivided capital".

The so-called peace plan unilaterally annuls previous UN resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and recognizes illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in various parts of Palestine and the Jordanian capital Amman in reaction to the plan's formal rollout.

The hashtag #FreePalestine also quickly topped world trending lists on Twitter.

*Bassel Ibrahim contributed to this report from Ankara