Palestinians reject US Peace Plan, Mahmoud Abbas tells UNSC

New York [US], Feb 12 (ANI): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday (local time) rejected the US President Donald Trump's Middle East Peace Plan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
"I have come to you today to reaffirm the Palestinian position that rejects the Israeli-American proposal," Abbas was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
"It annuls the legitimacy of the Palestinian rights, our rights to self-determination, freedom, and independence, in our own state. It legitimised what is illegal - settlements and confiscation and annexation of Palestinian land," he said, referring to Israel's illegal settlement expansion project in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Abbas, however, also stated that he was ready to launch negotiations with Israel under the patronage of the Quartet, reported Times of Israel.
The Palestinian President told the UNSC that the proposal would bring neither peace nor stability and would leave Palestinians with a state resembling 'swiss cheese', reported Al Jazeera.
Abbas called on Trump to return to negotiations based on existing UN resolutions that call for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders and urged the UN security council to hold an international conference to seek a settlement for the long-running conflict.
The Middle East plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump last month proposes for the creation of a Palestinian state with a capital in eastern Jerusalem and with double the territory currently under their control.
At the same time, under the plan, the US would recognise Israeli sovereignty over its settlement in West Bank area, with Jerusalem remaining the undivided capital of Israel. (ANI)