President Donald Trump released his long delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan Tuesday, promising ‘a new dawn,’ but angry Palestinians called it biased and deserving to go into the ‘dustbin of history.’

He proposed an independent Palestinian state and the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House,  Trump said his proposals ‘could be the last opportunity’ for Palestinians.

“Together we can bring about a new dawn in the Middle East,” Trump said

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plans saying in a televised address:

“I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass.”

Trump’s proposals are that:

  • The US will recognise Israeli sovereignty over territory that his plan envisages as being part of Israel. The plan includes a conceptual map that  Trump says illustrates the territorial compromises that Israel is willing to make
  • The map will “more than double the Palestinian territory and provide a Palestinian capital in eastern Jerusalem”, where  Trump says the US would open an embassy. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said Mr Trump’s plan would give Palestinians control over 15% of what it called “historic Palestine”.
  • Jerusalem “will remain Israel’s undivided capital”. Both Israel and the Palestinians hold competing claims to the Holy City. The Palestinians insist that East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, be the capital of their future state.
  • An opportunity for Palestinians to “achieve an independent state of their very own” – however, he gave few details.
  • “No Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted from their homes” – suggesting that existing Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank will remain.
  • Israel will work with the King of Jordan to ensure that the status quo governing the key holy site in Jerusalem known to Jews as the Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims is preserved. Jordan runs the religious trust that administers the site.
  • Territory allocated to Palestinians in Mr Trump’s map “will remain open and undeveloped for a period of four years”. During that time, Palestinians can study the deal, negotiate with Israel, and “achieve the criteria for statehood”.

“Palestinians are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism. They deserve a far better life,”  Trump said.