Israeli Soldiers Quell Rallies Against Trump's ME Plan, Dozens of Palestinians Wounded

Scores of of Palestinians were injured on Wednesday as the Israeli forces attacked massive protests in different areas in the West Bank against the "Deal of the Century".

News ID: 448743

Date: 31 January 2020 - 08:42

RNA - After US President Donald Trump announced his Middle East plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed popular mobilizations against the deal, and groups including the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas called for mass demonstrations.

Amid heavy Israeli security presence, sporadic protests erupted across the occupied West Bank. A large contingent of Israeli security forces, deployed in the area since Tuesday, responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd.

But, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in Ramallah, Al-Khalil, Bethlehem, Jordan Valley, and other areas to reject the so-called "peace plan" announced by the United States on Tuesday which is also known as "Deal of the Century". School and university students took part in the demonstrations, raised Palestine flags and raised banners condemning the suspicious deal.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that at least 41 Palestinian citizens were injured by Israeli forces live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas grenades.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have also staged a general strike in protest against Trump’s proposal. It came less than a day after thousands of Palestinians rallied in front of the headquarters of the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in Gaza city in protest of the US plan. Demonstrators burnt tires as well as pictures of Trump and Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu, and raised a banner reading, “Palestine is not for sale”.

After the announcement, Palestinians took to social media to react, comment and mock the plan. Often dubbed the "Deal of the Century" Palestinians referred to it as the "Slap of the Century". The hashtags #NoToTrumpPlan and #No4DealOfCentury trended on Twitter.

Abbas has called Trump's Middle East peace plan a "conspiracy", stressing that his people's rights "are not for sale".

Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh stated that the unified Palestinian position behind Abbas’ rejection of the deal is a message to Israel and United States that the Palestinian people are united behind their leadership to thwart this deal that will not pass and will fail, just as all previous conspiracies have failed.

After months of running a vast propaganda machine to drum up support for his self-proclaimed "Deal of the Century", Trump has finally unveiled what he believes can serve as a final antidote to the bitter and brutal Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has dragged on for seven decades. He released his proposed deal during an event at the White House alongside Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday.

According to Fars News Agency, Trump's plan calls for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict and for a four-year freeze in new Israeli settlement construction, during which details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. It suggests Jerusalem as the "undivided capital" of Israel, while promising the Palestinians a state of their own and a new capital in eastern Jerusalem. This proposal had been rejected by Palestinians in the past.

Democratic members of the Congress have denounced Trump’s peace initiative which cements Israel’s longstanding policy of permanent occupation, colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people.

Amnesty International has also announced that the Trump administration’s dismal package of proposals to violate international law and further strip Palestinians of their rights is a handbook for more suffering and abuses in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The organization urged the international community to reject measures contravening international law that are set out in Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century”.

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