'Deal of the century': Palestine warns Trump, Israel not to cross 'red lines'

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday warned the United States not to cross any "red lines" following reports that Donald Trump intends to release his long-awaited peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Abbas, said in a statement that Palestinians demand an end to Israel's occupation since 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"If this deal is announced according to these rejected formulas, the leadership will announce a series of measures in which we safeguard our legitimate rights, and we will demand Israel to assume its full responsibilities as an occupying power," he said, according to Wafa.

"We warn Israel and the American administration against crossing the red lines."

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will release a long-delayed plan for Mideast peace before a meeting in Washington next week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Probably we'll release it a little bit prior to that," the US leader told reporters traveling with him to Florida on board Air Force One, referring to the White House meeting on Tuesday.

"It's a great plan. It's a plan that really would work," he added.

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The economic part of the plan was shared in June and calls for $50 billion in international investment in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab countries over 10 years.

The Palestinians, who refuse to talk to the Trump administration since he recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, reject the peace plan because it seems to bury the two-state solution that for decades has been the cornerstone of international diplomacy aimed at the two.

On the plane Trump said he was pleased that both Netanyahu and his main electoral rival Benny Gantz, head of the centrist Blue and White party, would come to the White House in the middle of the campaign for Israeli elections on 2 March.

"We have both candidates coming — unheard of," Trump said. 

Asked if he had contacted the Palestinians, Trump said: "We've spoken to them briefly. But we will speak to them in a period of time."

"And they have a lot of incentive to do it. I'm sure they maybe will react negatively at first but it's actually very positive for them," Trump said.

Trump, whose team has long been working on the outlines of a secretive peace plan, has repeatedly boasted that he is the most pro-Israeli US president in history.

Abbas cut off all ties with the United States in December 2017 after Trump broke with decades of international consensus and recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Palestinians see the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state and world powers have long agreed that Jerusalem's fate should be settled via negotiations.

Israeli media speculated that Trump had chosen to announce the event in support of Netanyahu's election bid - the third in a year.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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