Live: Israel cracks down on Trump plan protests
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Saudi Arabia welcomed US President Donald Trump's Israel-Palestine deal on Tuesday night. Here's their full statement below:
Middle East Eye's Mohamed Hassan gives a first look at what Trump's plan means for the Middle East.
Commenting on US President Donald Trump's plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, said: "The so-called 'Vision for Peace' is simply the dream project of a bankruptcy-ridden real estate developer.
"But it is a nightmare for the region and the world. And, hopefully, a wake-up call for all the Muslims who have been barking up the wrong tree."
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Wednesday that the first reading of US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan indicates a great waste of legitimate rights of Palestinians.
However, the Arab League is "studying the American vision carefully. We are open to any serious effort made to achieve peace," he said.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, two leading Democratic presidential candidates, have poured scorn on Donald Trump's plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a statement, Sanders said Trump's proposal was unacceptable and only perpetuates the conflict.
"Any acceptable peace deal must be consistent with international law and multiple UN Security Council resolutions. It must end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and enable Palestinian self-determination in an independent, democratic, economically viable state of their own alongside a secure and democratic state of Israel," the statement read.
Warren called the plan a "rubber stamp for annexation" which offers no chance for a real Palestinian state.
"Releasing a plan without negotiating with Palestinians isn't diplomacy, it's a sham. I will oppose unilateral annexation in any form—and reverse any policy that supports it."
Demonstrations have taken place in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah after US President Donald Trump's announced his so-called "deal of the century."
More than 1,000 people, of all ages and genders, gathered at Manara circle late on Tuesday, before marching to the grave of Yasser Arafat.
Carrying posters and photos of Arafat and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the crowd called for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas in order to present a united front against the Trump administration.
"The Americans are not a fair arbiter," Tamer a 17-year-old from Ramallah told Middle East Eye as the crowd chanted slogans against the US and Israel.
"There is no justice. This plan is a plan for Israel.
"We will do everything in our power to stop this plan from being implemented. We are hurting, we are devastated, but we are carrying on. We will continue to demand our rights to live in dignity and freedom."
MEE photographer Akram Al-Waara captures the anger, frustration and resolve in Ramallah.
Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets towards protesters near the town of al-Bireh north of Ramallah, injuring 12 people, The Red Crescent reported.
Palestinian factions have called for protests throughout the West Bank on Wednesday, and Hamas-supported protests will be also held in the Gaza Strip.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is committed to helping Israel and the Palestinians broker peace on the basis of UN resolutions, international law, bilateral agreements and the vision of two states based on pre-1967 borders, his spokesman said in a statement after the United States unveiled its controversial plan.
One such UN resolution was adopted by the Security Council a month before U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. The resolution demanded an end to Israeli settlements, with 14 votes in favor and one abstention by former US President Barack Obama's administration.
Demonstrations have taken place in the Gaza Strip after US President Donald Trump's announcement.
MEE photographer Muhammed al Hajjar captures the anger, frustration and resolve on the streets of Gaza.
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that Israel was free to immediately annex West Bank settlements, minutes after US President Donald Trump's plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was released.
"Israel does not have to wait at all," he said, when asked whether there was a "waiting period" over when the country could extend Israeli sovereignty to the settlements.
"The waiting period would be the time it takes for them to obtain internal approvals and to obviously create the documentation, the calibration, the mapping, that would enable us to evaluate it, makes sure it's consistent with the conceptual map," he added.
"If they wish to apply Israeli law to those areas allocated to Israel, we will recognise it."
Shortly after, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that he would bring the annexation of the Jordan Valley and all West Bank settlements for a vote in Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Turkey has condemned Donald Trump's so-called "deal of the century," calling it an another attempt at stealing Palestinian land.
"This is an attempt to kill the two state solution and a plan that aims to annex Palestinian territory by robbing it," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Jerusalem is our red line. We won't allow steps to legitimise Israel's occupation and oppression.
"We won't accept any plan that's not approved by Palestine. Peace won't be reached in the Middle East without ending the occupation policies.
"Palestinian people and territories cannot he purchased."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will meet Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking in Ramallah after Trump’s announcement, Abbas said he would Haniyeh in Gaza to start a new phase of joint work.
Abbas did not issue a call to action, or talk about ending security coordination with Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says "a thousand no's" to US President Donald Trump's plan, which strongly favours Israel.
Abbas says: "After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no's to the Deal of The Century."
He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem.
Yousef Jabareen, a member of the Arab Joint List - the third-largest political group in Israel's parliament - has slammed Trump's Israel-Palestine plan saying it will "continue to perpetuate the conflict."
"The American deal cannot be a 'peace plan' because it perpetuates the occupation of Palestinian lands and ignores the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination. Thus, the plan will continue to perpetuate the conflict," he said in a statement sent to Middle East Eye.
"We in the Joint List call upon international community to reject this plan and to continue to support the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem and removal of the all settlements – which continue to be defined as war crimes according to international law.
"Importantly, by accepting a state according to the 1967 border, Palestinians will be left with only 22% of the land of historical Palestine. This is an extremely painful compromise; Palestinians should not be required to accept additional compromises."
