Abbas at the microphone, gesticulating

Palestine’s Abbas condemns Trump peace move as ‘slap of the century’

Ramallah: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday he would only accept a broad, internationally-backed panel to broker any peace talks with Israel, but did not rule out a US role in such a panel.

The Palestinians are seething at US President Donald Trump’s recognition last month of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and Abbas told a meeting of senior Palestinian officials in a speech that the move had disqualified the US as a peacemaker.

Israel says it would welcome the US as a mediator but a US bid to revive negotiations, led by Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has so far shown no progress. Talks have been frozen since 2014.

Read the full article by Ali Sawafta at the Brisbane Times.