Lebanese president criticizes Trump’s ‘Deal of Century’

By Wassim Saif al-Din

BEIRUT (AA) - Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Wednesday criticized the so-called “Deal of the Century” -- a backchannel U.S. Middle East peace plan -- and warned against Israeli "threats" to the region.

“Israeli threats and pressure… and the trend towards recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital are alarming indications,” Lebanon’s NNA news agency quoted Aoun as saying on Wednesday.

“Peace cannot come at the expense of [Palestinian] refugees who have been forced from their homeland and stripped of their identity,” the president said in reference to Washington’s backchannel peace plan.

The terms of Washington's peace plan remain vague. But according to recent speculation, Palestinian refugees will be asked to concede their right to return to historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.