Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas denounced US President Donald Trump's peace efforts as the "slap of the century", at a key meeting on Sunday on the White House's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

In a wide-ranging two-hour speech, Abbas reiterated that he would not accept the Trump administration as a mediator in peace talks with Israel and called for an internationally-led process.

He also accused Israel through its actions of ending the 1994 Oslo peace accords that form the basis of Palestinian ties with the Jewish state, saying the Palestinians would study all strategies for responding to it.

Beyond that, Abbas attacked the US ambassadors to Israel and the United Nations, David Friedman and Nikki Haley, calling them a "disgrace".

Both Trump appointees have been strong supporters of Israel, with Friedman having backed Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"We said 'no' to Trump, 'we will not accept your project'," the Palestinian president said.

"The deal of the century is the slap of the century and we will not accept it," he added, referring to Trump's pledge to reach the "ultimate deal" — Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The meeting in Ramallah of the Palestinian Central Council — a high-ranking arm of the Palestine Liberation Organisation — was called in the wake of Trump’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The move has infuriated the Palestinians, who want the annexed eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state.

Prior to the declaration, Trump and his envoys, including senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, had spent months seeking to negotiate how to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians, stalled since 2014.

But since Trump’s Jerusalem announcement, the Palestinians have refused to meet with the US administration, and Abbas is expected to shun Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the region next week.

In the buildup to the Central Council meeting on Sunday and Monday, Palestinian officials had stressed that all options were on the table for responding to Trump, including suspending the PLO's recognition of Israel.

Abbas did not mention recognition but said the Oslo accords that led to the creation of his Palestinian Authority and envisioned a final resolution to the conflict were in effect finished.

"I am saying that Oslo, there is no Oslo. Israel ended Oslo," he said, referring to persistent Israeli settlement building and other issues seen as eroding the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.

The 121-member council will meet on Monday to discuss strategy for responding to Trump’s announcement, but Abbas offered few concrete policy proposals.

Hugh Lovatt, Israel and Palestine Project Coordinator at the European Council for Foreign Relations, said while the speech was full of rhetoric, there was little noticeable policy.

"It is safe to say that president Abbas has done little to improve US-Palestinian relations which have now reached their nadir," he told AFP. "Abbas's rambling speech was also noteworthy for what was not there — namely, any real vision for moving beyond the failed US-led Oslo paradigm."

"Those hoping for a glimpse of a new Palestinian strategy to end the occupation or a shift towards a one-state solution will have been left disappointed."

While Palestinian leaders have been outraged by Trump's moves, they also face difficult choices in how to respond as they seek to salvage remaining hopes of a two-state solution to the conflict.

Earlier this month, Palestinian leaders said they will not be "blackmailed" after Trump threatened to cut aid worth more than $300 million annually to force them to negotiate.

Trump says "we refused negotiations. May God demolish your house. When did we refuse?" asked an indignant Abbas.</s>The Palestinian president hit out at President Donald Trumpin a fiery, two-hour-long speech on Sunday, saying "shame on you" for his treatment of the Palestinians.

He also warned he would have no problem rejecting what he suggested would be an unacceptable peace plan.

The speech by Mahmoud Abbas ratcheted up what has been more than a month of harsh rhetoric toward Mr Trump since the president's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Relations between Washington and the Palestinians have sunk to a new low, boding poorly for a peace plan the White House has promised to present.

Speaking to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, Mr Abbas repeated the Palestinians' opposition to Mr Trump's Jerusalem recognition and censured MrTrump for accusing the Palestinians of refusing to negotiate.

"He (Trump) said in a tweet: 'We won't give money to the Palestinians because they rejected the negotiations'," Mr Abbas said.

"Shame on you. When did we reject the talks? Where is the negotiation that we rejected?"

Mr Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the US would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of US policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Mr Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Mr Trump's credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

"We can say no to anyone if things are related to our fate and our people, and now we have said no to Mr Trump," he said.

"We told him the deal of the century was the slap of the century. But we will slap back."

Mr Abbas also said that the Palestinians have rejected a US request to halt payments to roughly 35,000 families of Palestinians killed and wounded in the conflict with Israel, including suicide bombers and other militants.

Hoping to secure what he has called the "ultimate" deal, Mr Trump has for nearly a year dispatched his Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, to the region to try to breathe life into moribund peace talks, which collapsed in 2014.

But the Jerusalem pivot threw a wrench into Mr Trump's peacemaking attempts.

Since then, the Palestinians have butted heads with the US at the United Nations, winning a global rebuke against Mr Trump's move.

Mr Trump has responded by threatening to cut aid and to reduce US payments to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.

The US is the largest donor to the agency.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed Mr Trump's tough line toward the Palestinians, while also pushing forward with more settlement construction on lands sought by the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials say that while they have not received a formal proposal from the US, they have heard from Saudi interlocutors that the US is exploring the possibility of offering the Palestinians a statelet in the parts of the West Bank they already control, with Israel controlling the borders, and the Gaza Strip.

US officials have not confirmed the claims.

But if true, the proposal would fall far short of Palestinian claims to the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza for an independent state.

Mr Abbas said the Palestinians will not accept the US as a sole broker, and believe a deal can only be reached if there are multiple parties, such as with the international nuclear deal between six global powers and Iran.</s>Israel’s defense minister says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has “lost his senses” following his fiery speech against President Donald Trump.

Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that Abbas has given up on the prospect of negotiations and is opting instead for a confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in a speech on Sunday, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Abbas also slammed Trump’s recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid.

Abbas said to Trump: “Yehreb Beitak,” which literally translates as “may your house be demolished.”

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.</s>Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday President Donald Trump ought to be ashamed of himself for saying the Palestinians rejected peace talks.

 

 In a two-hour rebuke of Trump's Palestinian policy, Abbas told the Palestinian Central Council — the Palestinian Liberation Organization's decision-making body — he will no longer accept the U.S. as a peace mediator.

 

 "We can say no to anyone if things are related to our fate and our people, and now we have said no to Trump," Abbas raged. "We told him the 'deal of the century' was the slap of the century. But we will slap back." 

 

 Abbas has called for an internationally negotiated peace process instead of one led by the United States.

 

 Trump has frequently called a Middle East peace treaty "the deal of the century." But his administration's efforts to revive the long moribund peace talks have so far gone nowhere.

 

 Trump has threatened to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians, saying they have walked away from the negotiations.

 

 Abbas challenged Trump for proof of the Palestinians' refusal to discuss peace. He also accused Israel of tearing up the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords by continued Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank.

 

 The Oslo Accords led to partial self-determination for the Palestinian people, along with the PLO's recognition of Israel. 

 

 But a final two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians has always been elusive. 

 

 The Palestinians want the West Bank and east Jerusalem as part of a future independent state. Israel regards Jerusalem as its eternal and united capital.

 

 Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and plans to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv has infuriated the Palestinians.</s>(RAMALLAH, West Bank) — The Palestinian president railed at President Donald Trump in a fiery, two-hour-long speech on Sunday, saying “shame on you” for his treatment of the Palestinians and warning that he would have no problem rejecting what he suggested would be an unacceptable peace plan.

The speech by Mahmoud Abbas ratcheted up what has been more than a month of harsh rhetoric toward Trump since the president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Relations between Washington and the Palestinians have sunk to a new low, boding poorly for a peace plan the White House has promised to present.

Speaking to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, Abbas repeated the Palestinians’ opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem recognition and censured Trump for accusing the Palestinians of refusing to negotiate.

“He (Trump) said in a tweet: ‘We won’t give money to the Palestinians because they rejected the negotiations,'” Abbas said. “Shame on you. When did we reject the talks? Where is the negotiation that we rejected?”

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of U.S. policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump’s credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

“We can say no to anyone if things are related to our fate and our people, and now we have said no to Trump,” he said. “We told him the deal of the century was the slap of the century. But we will slap back.”

Abbas also said that the Palestinians have rejected a U.S. request to halt payments to roughly 35,000 families of Palestinians killed and wounded in the conflict with Israel, including suicide bombers and other militants. Israel argues that the practice encourages violence.

Hoping to secure what he has called the “ultimate” deal, Trump has for nearly a year dispatched his Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, to the region to try to breathe life into moribund peace talks, which collapsed in 2014.

But the Jerusalem pivot threw a wrench into Trump’s peacemaking attempts. Since then, the Palestinians have butted heads with the U.S. at the United Nations, winning a global rebuke against Trump’s move. Trump has responded by threatening to cut aid and to reduce U.S. payments to the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency. The U.S. is the largest donor to the agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed Trump’s tough line toward the Palestinians, while also pushing forward with more settlement construction on lands sought by the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials say that while they have not received a formal proposal from the U.S., they have heard from Saudi interlocutors that the U.S. is exploring the possibility of offering the Palestinians a statelet in the parts of the West Bank they already control, with Israel controlling the borders, and the Gaza Strip. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue.

U.S. officials have not confirmed the claims. But if true, the proposal would fall far short of Palestinian claims to the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza for an independent state.

Abbas said the Palestinians will not accept the U.S. as a sole broker, and believe a deal can only be reached if there are multiple parties, such as with the international nuclear deal between six global powers and Iran.</s>RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president railed at President Donald Trump in a fiery, two-hour-long speech on Sunday, saying "shame on you" for his treatment of the Palestinians and warning that he would have no problem rejecting what he suggested would be an unacceptable peace plan.

The speech by Mahmoud Abbas ratcheted up what has been more than a month of harsh rhetoric toward Trump since the president's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Relations between Washington and the Palestinians have sunk to a new low, boding poorly for a peace plan the White House has promised to present.

Speaking to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, Abbas repeated the Palestinians' opposition to Trump's Jerusalem recognition and censured Trump for accusing the Palestinians of refusing to negotiate.

"He (Trump) said in a tweet: 'We won't give money to the Palestinians because they rejected the negotiations,'" Abbas said. "Shame on you. When did we reject the talks? Where is the negotiation that we rejected?"

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of U.S. policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump's credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

"We can say no to anyone if things are related to our fate and our people, and now we have said no to Trump," he said. "We told him the deal of the century was the slap of the century. But we will slap back."

Abbas also said that the Palestinians have rejected a U.S. request to halt payments to roughly 35,000 families of Palestinians killed and wounded in the conflict with Israel, including suicide bombers and other militants. Israel argues that the practice encourages violence.

Hoping to secure what he has called the "ultimate" deal, Trump has for nearly a year dispatched his Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, to the region to try to breathe life into moribund peace talks, which collapsed in 2014.

But the Jerusalem pivot threw a wrench into Trump's peacemaking attempts. Since then, the Palestinians have butted heads with the U.S. at the United Nations, winning a global rebuke against Trump's move. Trump has responded by threatening to cut aid and to reduce U.S. payments to the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency. The U.S. is the largest donor to the agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed Trump's tough line toward the Palestinians, while also pushing forward with more settlement construction on lands sought by the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials say that while they have not received a formal proposal from the U.S., they have heard from Saudi interlocutors that the U.S. is exploring the possibility of offering the Palestinians a statelet in the parts of the West Bank they already control, with Israel controlling the borders, and the Gaza Strip. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue.

U.S. officials have not confirmed the claims. But if true, the proposal would fall far short of Palestinian claims to the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza for an independent state.

Abbas said the Palestinians will not accept the U.S. as a sole broker, and believe a deal can only be reached if there are multiple parties, such as with the international nuclear deal between six global powers and Iran.</s>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas railed at his US counterpart Donald Trump in a fiery, two-hour-long speech on Sunday, saying “shame on you” for his treatment of the Palestinians and warning that he would have no problem rejecting what he suggested would be an unacceptable peace plan.

The speech by Abbas ratcheted up what has been more than a month of harsh rhetoric toward Trump since the president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Relations between Washington and the Palestinians have sunk to a new low, boding poorly for a peace plan the White House has promised to present.

Speaking to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, Abbas repeated the Palestinians’ opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem recognition and censured Trump for accusing the Palestinians of refusing to negotiate.

“He (Trump) said in a tweet: `We won’t give money to the Palestinians because they rejected the negotiations,”’ Abbas said. “Shame on you. When did we reject the talks? Where is the negotiation that we rejected?”

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the US would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of US policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump’s credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

“We can say no to anyone if things are related to our fate and our people, and now we have said no to Trump,” he said. “We told him the deal of the century was the slap of the century. But we will slap back.”

Abbas also said that the Palestinians have rejected a US request to halt payments to roughly 35,000 families of Palestinians killed and wounded in the conflict with Israel, including suicide bombers and other militants. Israel argues that the practice encourages violence.

Hoping to secure what he has called the “ultimate” deal, Trump has for nearly a year dispatched his Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, to the region to try to breathe life into moribund peace talks, which collapsed in 2014.

But the Jerusalem pivot threw a wrench into Trump’s peacemaking attempts. Since then, the Palestinians have butted heads with the US at the United Nations, winning a global rebuke against Trump’s move. Trump has responded by threatening to cut aid and to reduce US payments to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency. The US is the largest donor to the agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed Trump’s tough line toward the Palestinians, while also pushing forward with more settlement construction on lands sought by the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials say that while they have not received a formal proposal from the U.S., they have heard from Saudi interlocutors that the U.S. is exploring the possibility of offering the Palestinians a statelet in the parts of the West Bank they already control, with Israel controlling the borders and the Gaza Strip. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue.

US officials have not confirmed the claims. But if true, the proposal would fall far short of Palestinian claims to the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza for an independent state.

Abbas said the Palestinians will not accept the US as a sole broker and believe a deal can only be reached if there are multiple parties, such as with the international nuclear deal between six global powers and Iran.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Norwegians decline President Donald Trump's offer to move to US</s>RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian leader says President Donald Trump should be ashamed of himself for his handling of Mideast peace efforts.

In a fiery speech to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, on Sunday, President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Trump and his policies toward the Palestinians, including his recognition last month of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Abbas said "shame on you" for Trump's claim that the Palestinians refuse to negotiate. He says the Palestinians remain committed to negotiations, but are ready to reject what they fear will be an unfair proposal from the White House.

The rhetoric reflects the strained relations between the Palestinians and the Trump administration. The Palestinians view his Jerusalem declaration as having destroyed his credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>RAMALLAH: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas denounced US President Donald Trump`s peace efforts as the "slap of the century", at a key meeting Sunday on the White House`s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel`s capital.

In a wide-ranging two-hour speech, Abbas reiterated he would not accept the Trump administration as a mediator in peace talks with Israel and called for an internationally-led process.

He also accused Israel through its actions of ending the 1994 Oslo peace accords that form the basis of Palestinian ties with the Jewish state, saying the Palestinians would study all strategies for responding to it.

Beyond that, Abbas attacked the US ambassadors to Israel and the United Nations, David Friedman and Nikki Haley, calling them a "disgrace".

Both Trump appointees have been strong supporters of Israel, with Friedman having backed Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"We said `no` to Trump, `we will not accept your project`," the Palestinian president said.

"The deal of the century is the slap of the century and we will not accept it," he added, referring to Trump`s pledge to reach the "ultimate deal" -- Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The meeting in Ramallah of the Palestinian Central Council -- a high-ranking arm of the Palestine Liberation Organisation -- was called in the wake of Trump`s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel`s capital.

The move has infuriated the Palestinians, who want the annexed eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state.

Prior to the declaration, Trump and his envoys, including senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, had spent months seeking to negotiate how to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians, stalled since 2014.

But since Trump`s Jerusalem announcement, the Palestinians have refused to meet with the US administration, and Abbas is expected to shun Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the region next week. In the buildup to the Central Council meeting on Sunday and Monday, Palestinian officials had stressed that all options were on the table for responding to Trump, including suspending the PLO`s recognition of Israel.

Abbas did not mention recognition but said the Oslo accords that led to the creation of his Palestinian Authority and envisioned a final resolution to the conflict were in effect finished.

"I am saying that Oslo, there is no Oslo. Israel ended Oslo," he said, referring to persistent Israeli settlement building and other issues seen as eroding the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.

The 121-member council will meet Monday to discuss strategy for responding to Trump`s announcement, but Abbas offered few concrete policy proposals.

Hugh Lovatt, Israel and Palestine Project Coordinator at the European Council for Foreign Relations, said while the speech was full of rhetoric, there was little noticeable policy.

"It is safe to say that president Abbas has done little to improve US-Palestinian relations which have now reached their nadir," he told AFP.

"Abbas`s rambling speech was also noteworthy for what was not there -- namely, any real vision for moving beyond the failed US-led Oslo paradigm.

"Those hoping for a glimpse of a new Palestinian strategy to end the occupation or a shift towards a one-state solution will have been left disappointed."

While Palestinian leaders have been outraged by Trump`s moves, they also face difficult choices in how to respond as they seek to salvage remaining hopes of a two-state solution to the conflict.

Earlier this month, Palestinian leaders said they will not be "blackmailed" after Trump threatened to cut aid worth more than $300 million annually to force them to negotiate.

Trump says "we refused negotiations. May God demolish your house. When did we refuse?" asked an indignant Abbas.
President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas describes President of the United States Donald Trump's Middle East peace efforts as the "slap of the century."