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US Develops Secret Ideas for Settling Middle East Crisis, Contradicting Int’l Agreements - Lavrov

The White House published the economic section of its peace plan for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dubbed the "deal of the century". The teased plan suggests investing $50 billion over 10 years to boost the Palestinian Authority's economy, but gives no hints about political solutions to the conflict.
Sputnik

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has slammed the US for planning to use unilaterally-developed ideas to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ignoring the existing international agreements.

"We […] expressed concern about the US attempts to promote secretly-developed ideas that imply a rejection of the principles of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, and a departure from the international legal framework in settlement, including UN resolutions, the Madrid Principles and the Arab Peace Initiative", Lavrov said.

The Russian minister stressed that both Moscow and Cairo support the existing international agreements, which were devoted to resolving the decades-long conflict.

Earlier, the White House had offered a first 'teaser' fragment of the so-called "deal of the century", which as US President Donald Trump claims, will help to resolve the lasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The released 40-page document features $50 billion in substantial investments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the course of 10 years, which are supposed to "unleash the economic potential" of Palestinians and allow them to cope with daunting socio-economic problems.

US Develops Secret Ideas for Settling Middle East Crisis, Contradicting Int’l Agreements - Lavrov

The US plan has already faced opposition from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas, which earlier dismissed the US as an unsuitable mediator for the conflict, insisting that it's biased towards Israel. The accusations came in the wake of Trump recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2018.

The PLO insists that before taking on the Palestinian Authority's economy, the US peace plan must first ensure the lifting of the "siege of Gaza" and the opening of its territorial waters, airspace and borders.

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