Mahmoud Al-Aloul
Mahmoud Al-AloulIssam Rimawi/Flash 90

Fatah deputy leader Mahmoud Al-Aloul, said on Sunday that the Palestinian people would thwart the “Deal of the Century”, the US initiative to settle the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Aloul noted that the thwarting of the American plan will be achieved through steadfastness, holding onto the land and strengthening national unity.

He stressed that all the pressures exerted on Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership would not change their position, which opposes any political plan that is incompatible with the basic Palestinian principles.

Speaking at a conference in Jericho, Aloul also said that the US administration and the Israeli government are trying to eliminate the Palestinian problem and promote an economic solution to the conflict. He attacked the cuts to the taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, stressing that the prisoners and the shaheeds (martyrs -ed.) are a red line for the Palestinians.

The comments come ahead of the expected publication of the Trump administration’s peace plan, which is scheduled to be unveiled in June.

A source familiar with the Trump peace plan recently told The Washington Post that it will include practical improvements in the lives of Palestinian Arabs but is likely to stop short of ensuring a separate, fully sovereign Palestinian state.

The PA has been boycotting the US ever since Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December of 2017 and has rejected the US peace plan before it has even been unveiled.