Palestinian envoy slams Trump's Mideast plan

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - There is no a single Palestinian who would ever agree to the so-called U.S. "deal of the century," Palestine’s Ambassador to Moscow Abdel Hafiz Nofal said Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative was "an attempt to save [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, to let him hold his premier post,” said Nofal at a news conference in Moscow.

He called on the international community to support Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas.

"What can we do to counterbalance the American move? On Feb. 11, Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN Security Council and present an alternative to the American plan. We call on everyone to support it," he said.

Nofal said the U.S. plan suggests the establishment of a highly dependable state, which categorically opposes all existing initiatives.

"The UN was fast in creating Israel. It was done within a very short term, while when it comes to a just solution for the Palestinian state, it has not been able to settle the issue for years," he said.

Last week, Trump released his long-awaited plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute during a White House news conference alongside Netanyahu but with no Palestinian envoy in the room.

The plan refers to Jerusalem as “Israel’s undivided capital” and recognizes Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank. Palestinians were offered a route to running a series of territories connected by roads and a tunnel.