(Yahoo) – Palestinian leaders threatened Sunday to withdraw from key provisions of the Oslo Accords, which define arrangements with Israel if US President Donald Trump announces his Middle East peace plan next week. Trump was scheduled to unveil the plan ahead of his meeting in Washington this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who has called Trump “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had”, said he hoped to “make history” in Washington this week. But the Palestinian leadership was not invited to the talks and has rejected Trump’s initiative amid tensions with the US president over his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
World powers have long agreed that Jerusalem’s fate should be settled through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP that the Palestine Liberation Organisation reserved the right “to withdraw from the interim agreement” of the Oslo pact if Trump unveils his plan. The Trump initiative will turn Israel’s “temporary occupation (of Palestinian territory) into a permanent occupation”, Erekat said. READ MORE
