Palestinian hold a poster showing U.S. President Donald Trump as they protest the American peace plan in Bethlehem, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington Sunday night vowing to "make history" at a planned meeting with President Donald Trump for the unveiling of the U.S. administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian officials decried a U.S. Middle East Peace plan, as U.S. President Donald Trump held meetings with Israeli leaders on Monday.
Trump held White House meetings with both right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz to go over aspects of the long-delayed proposal.
But Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said his side rejects the plan, seeing it as an effort to "finish off the Palestinian cause" and hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian leaders said they were not invited to take part in the Washington talks. Despite their rejection of the plan's as-yet-unknown details, Trump sounded cautiously confident on Monday.
"It's something they should want,” Trump said, referring to the Palestinians in comments to the press in the Oval Office during his meeting with Netanyahu. "I think in the end they're going to want it. It's very good for them."
As the AP reports, what Trump has called the "deal of the century" is expected to be favorable to Israel and define Israel's final borders.
Tensions have deteriorated between Palestine and the Trump administration as the administration has taken moves that have angered Palestinians– including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there while also cutting funding to Palestinian aid programs.