EU rejects Trump Mideast plan over annexation concerns

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the US initiative departs from 1967 lines with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps, made up of the state of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and the viable state of Palestine.

Brussels: The European Union on Tuesday rejected US President Donald Trump's proposal for securing peace in the Middle East and expressed concerns about Israel's plans to annex more Palestinian land.

Trump's plan, which was unveiled last week, would foresee the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands.

In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell underlined the bloc's commitment to a two-state solution, based along 1967 lines with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps, made up of the state of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and the viable state of Palestine.

Borrell said that the US initiative departs from these internationally agreed parameters. To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties. This includes notably the issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question, Borrell said.

Trump's plan was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed it as nonsense. Gulf Arab states also rejected the White House plan as biased. While Israeli officials were present for its unveiling, no Palestinian representatives attended.

Netanyahu has said that he wants to move forward with plans to annex West Bank territory.

"We are especially concerned by statements on the prospect of annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank," Borrell said.

The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war for an independent state and the removal of more than 7,00,000 Israeli settlers from these areas.

But the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu's hard-line nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians' core demands.

with inputs from PTI