Palestinians rally against Trump plan amid struggle at UN

Thousands of Palestinians rallied Tuesday in the West Bank to reject President Donald Trump's Mideast initiative and to express support for the Palestinian leadership as it tries to gain support at the United Nations for a resolution opposing the plan.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to deliver a speech at the U.N. later in the day, but members will not be voting on a draft resolution. Palestinian officials denied the resolution had been pulled, but diplomats said many members, including European countries, rejected the language in a draft that had circulated.

Trump's Mideast plan, announced at the White House on Jan. 28, sides with Israel on virtually all the most contentious issues of the decades-old conflict. It would allow Israel to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, including Jewish settlements that are home to hundreds of thousands of people and are considered illegal by most of the international community.

Israeli border police secure take position during clashes withe Palestinian demonstrators as they protest Middle East peace plan announced Tuesday by US President Donald Trump, at Beit El checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Feb 1, 2020 (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

The Palestinians, who cut off ties with the U.S. after Trump recognized disputed Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017, have adamantly rejected the plan.

Protesters packed Al-Manara Square in Ramallah, the West Bank headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. They waved Palestinian flags and held banners condemning the plan.

Abbas has tried to rally international support against the Trump plan, with limited success. The Arab League unanimously sided with the Palestinians against the plan, but key U.S. allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia said they appreciated Trump's efforts and called for renewed negotiations. Israel and the Palestinians have not held peace talks in more than a decade.

Palestinian demonstrators throws stones during clashes with Israeli security forces as they protest Middle East peace plan announced Tuesday by US President Donald Trump, at Beit El checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Feb 1, 2020 (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

The European Union issued a statement last week reiterating its support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines. The Palestinians want to establish a state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel seized in a war with Arab countries a half-century ago.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the U.S. initiative “departs from these internationally agreed parameters.”

The original draft resolution, co-sponsored by Tunisia and Indonesia and backed by the Palestinians, said the U.S. plan violates international law and Security Council demands for a two-state solution based on borders before the 1967 Mideast war. It would have expressed the council’s determination “to examine practical ways and means to secure the full implementation of its relevant resolutions, including enforcement measures under Chapter 7 of the (U.N.) Charter,” which can be by military or non-military means.

Israeli border police secure take position during clashes withe Palestinian demonstrators as they protest Middle East peace plan announced Tuesday by US President Donald Trump, at Beit El checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Feb 1, 2020 (AP PhotoMajdi Mohammed)

The resolution had been expected to be put to a vote on Tuesday. But diplomats said many of its provisions were not acceptable to European and other council members.

Any resolution is virtually guaranteed to be vetoed by the United States, but the Palestinians had hoped that a strong show of support from other members of the council would help shore up international backing for their demands.

Israeli police and Palestinian youths clashed again at a major Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims on Friday despite a temporary halt to Jewish visits to the site, which are seen as a provocation by the Palestinians.

Palestinians and Israeli police have regularly clashed at the site for the last week at a time of heightened tensions in the region following a string of deadly attacks inside Israel and arrest raids in the occupied West Bank. Three rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Palestinian youths hurled stones toward police at a gate leading into the compound, according to two Palestinian witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns. The police, in full riot gear, then entered the compound, firing rubber bullets and stun grenades.

Israeli police clash with Palestinian protesters at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 22, 2022. (AP PhotoMahmoud Illean)

The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said nine Palestinians were wounded, two of them seriously.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City is the third holiest site in Islam. The sprawling esplanade on which it is built is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of two Jewish temples in antiquity. It lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and clashes there have often ignited violence elsewhere.

Tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers are expected at the site later in the day for the main weekly prayers.

Israeli police move behind riot shields during clashes with Palestinian protesters at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 22, 2022. (AP PhotoMahmoud Illean)

Palestinians and neighboring Jordan, the custodian of the site, accuse Israel of violating longstanding arrangements by allowing increasingly large numbers of Jews to visit the site under police escort.

A longstanding prohibition on Jews praying at the site has eroded in recent years, fueling fears among Palestinians that Israel plans to take over the site or partition it.

Israel says it remains committed to the status quo and blames the violence on incitement by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza. It says its security forces are acting to thwart rock-throwers in order to ensure freedom of worship for Jews and Muslims.

Visits by Jewish groups were halted beginning Friday for the last 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as they have been in the past.

This year, the fasting month coincided with the Jewish Passover and major Christian holidays, with tens of thousands of people from all three faiths flocking to the Old City after the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions.