Former Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman revealed details of US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan to senior Palestinian officials two weeks before his abrupt resignation in November, according to the London-based Arabic-language Al-Hayat newspaper.
The newspaper cited officials as saying that the plan stipulates creating a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and granting limited autonomy to parts of the West Bank.
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The plan envisages hefty financial injections from the international community to build an airport, a port, as well as a possible maritime route to Cyprus and border crossings into Gaza.
The whole of the West Bank's Area A and chunks of Areas B and C will be under Palestinians' self-rule, according to the blueprint. Area A includes the regions that are currently under the Palestinian Authority's security and civil administration, in line with the 1993 Oslo Accords.
The plan also stipulates that Israeli settlements will remain unchanged, adding that the Jewish state will preserve control over West Bank's checkpoints, border crossings and water sources, as well as much of East Jerusalem. Additionally, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) will maintain a presence in the Jordan Valley, under the framework.
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Lieberman, for his part, denied what he described as a "simply incorrect report" by the Al-Hayat newspaper. His office claimed that he "has never seen" Trump's Middle East plan, which is yet to be completed.
During his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late September, US President Trump signalled his support for a two-state solution. He also announced that he will present his own Middle East peace plan in around two to four months.
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He was echoed by then-US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who said that the Trump administration's long-awaited peace plan for Israel and Palestine will be completed soon.
Israeli-Palestinian Tensions
Palestine previously refused the US' help as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after Washington relocated its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move provoked outrage among Palestinians and the Muslim world as a whole.
For decades, the Palestinian Authority has been in conflict with the Israeli government over its refusal to recognise it as an independent political and diplomatic state on the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel also continues to build settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, despite objections by the UN.
