Saudi Arabia, seven others condemn Israel’s rejection of Trump’s Gaza plan

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and seven other Muslim countries on Sunday condemned Israel’s rejection of a recently released roadmap for fully implementing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

The top diplomats of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Qatar and the UAE said in a joint statement that they “condemn the declared Israeli rejection of the Road Map” and of Palestinian statehood, accusing it of undermining the plan’s implementation and the “efforts undertaken to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

Trump announced last month that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to end the war. Trump’s peace plan calls for the immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza. It foresees Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw from the enclave and Gaza is rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed opposition to the US plan even after he was assured by Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, that Israel would not need to pull troops out of the war-battered territory until complete disarmament by Hamas.

Hamas said it had agreed to the plan to avoid a resumption of the conflict, but added that implementation of the deal would depend on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawing its forces and halting attacks.