President Donald Trump’s long delayed Middle East peace plan won support in Israel yesterday but was bitterly rejected by Palestinians facing possible Israeli annexation of key parts of the West Bank. Trump, who unveiled the plan on Tuesday at the White House standing alongside Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no Palestinian representatives on hand, said his initiative could succeed where others had failed.

Major powers and some regional players responded with caution, saying Trump’s project deserves study while stressing that a durable solution to the conflict can only emerge through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. But Trump’s proposals reportedly included no Palestinian input and grants Israel much of what it has sought in decades of international diplomacy, namely control over Jerusalem as its “undivided” capital, rather than a city to share with the Palestinians. 

It also offers a US green light for Israel to annex the strategically crucial Jordan Valley—which accounts for around 30 percent of the West Bank—as well as other Jewish settlements in the area. Trump’s proposal foresees the creation of a “contiguous” Palestinian state but under strict conditions, including a requirement that it be “demilitarised”.