Arab Media Reports: Both Israel and PA Have Seen U.S. Peace Deal Outline

A Lebanese newspaper Tuesday said that the basic outline of the promised Middle East peace deal authored by U.S. President Donald Trump has been presented to Palestinian Authority officials. According to the A-Diyar newspaper, which is identified with Hezbollah, the plan was presented to top PA intelligence official Majad Faraj, who was called to Riyadh for an “emergency meeting” to discuss the plan.

According to the report, the 35-page plan shows specific borders for a future Palestinian state, amounting to about half of Yehudah and Shomron. The question of which side will control which part of Yerushalayim – including the Old City – is put off until an undetermined date. The Palestinian demand for the return of the descendants of those who fled Israel in 1948 is addressed in a “humanitarian” manner, the report said, although it did not furnish details.

The report comes before a planned meeting between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in which the two are expected to discuss a number of topics, including the Palestinians, but especially the Iran nuclear deal. A report last month in the Saudi newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jedid said that Salman has seen the plan, and has already discussed its implementation with Israeli officials. Implementation would be rolled out over several years, with milestones for both sides to comply with.

The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper last week reported that several Arab countries – which the report did not name – have been pressuring PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to accept the American “deal of the century,” as the Palestinian and Lebanese reports have termed the Trump plan. That report also said that Hamas officials who recently visited Egypt have also been under pressure to accept the outline of the plan. Hamas has so far turned down those demands, the report added.