Trump claims his Gaza plan doesn’t address prospects for two-state solution

Speaking to reporters before taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh last night, US President Donald Trump said his plan for Gaza doesn’t get into whether there will be a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Asked about Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi’s call for a two-state solution at Monday’s Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Trump claimed the Egyptian leader was “talking about a different plan. I’m talking about something very much different. We’re talking about rebuilding Gaza.”

“A lot of people like the one-state solution. Some people like the two-state solution. So we’ll have to see. I haven’t commented on that… At some point, I’d decide what I think is right, but I’d be in coordination with other states,” Trump said.

However, the 20-point plan does touch on this issue and even creates an opening for a two-state solution.

“While Gaza redevelopment advances and when the [Palestinian Authority] reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people,” reads point 19.

Point 20 states, “The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.”