Donald Trump announced his peace plan for the Israel-Palestine conflict on 28 January by accepting Israel’s right to settle large areas of Palestinian territory acquired through war, in flagrant disregard of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and numerous resolutions by the United Nations Security Council, the General Assembly, the International Court of Justice and numerous other bodies declaring such settlements to be illegal under international law.

The plan also appears to deny Palestine the right to have its capital in Jerusalem, saying that the city will be Israel’s “undivided capital“.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plans as a “conspiracy”. “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,” he said.

Meanwhile on the same day, the trial of Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress proceeded in the US Senate and Netanyahu was indicted on charges of corruption charges in Israel.

With such leaders, perhaps it is no surprise that dissatisfaction with democracy within developed countries is at its highest level in almost 25 years, according to University of Cambridge researchers.

International Development Agencies Reject “Peace Plan”

According to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a coalition of 84 international NGOs operating in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), has urged the international community to reject the US Administration’s plan and reaffirm their shared commitment to the principles of international law as the basis for a just and durable peace agreement. The US proposal denies Palestinians’ fundamental rights and diminishes prospects for lasting peace. Israel must immediately end all forms of settlement activity and reverse de facto annexation of Palestinian territory, now sanctioned by the US plan.

Working in the occupied Palestinian territory, AIDA members already see the harmful impact of settlement expansion and de facto annexation throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Under Israeli occupation, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are denied basic freedom of movement and access to essential goods and services, including healthcare, water and sanitation, fuel, food security, employment, and economic development. Escalating military and settler violence curtails Palestinian children’s fundamental right to safely access quality education. Already, in the last year, record numbers of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank. Implementation of the US plan will accelerate these trends.