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Trump claims a lot of progress has been made in Middle East

SHAFAQNAUS President Donald Trump claimed that a lot of progress had been made in the Middle East during a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan on Monday in their third summit since Mr Trump took office and the first since US pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last month .

US President Donald Trump hosted King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday for an hour-long meeting that discussed the peace process, de-escalation efforts in Syria and boosting aid and bilateral ties with Amman.

King Abdullah and Queen Rania received a warm reception at the White House.

Mr Trump voiced optimism on the peace process. “We’re doing very well in the Middle East. A lot of progress has been made… and it really started with the end of the horrible Iran deal,” he said.

“That … was a disaster, and things are a lot different since we ended that.”

Jordan hosts more than 1.3 million refugees, mostly those who have left neighbouring Syria since the war started in 2011, The national reported.

Last February, the Trump administration approved increasing the annual aid to Jordan to US$1.3 billion (Dh4.77bn), and King Abdullah met the treasury and commerce secretaries on Friday to discuss economic initiatives.

In an interview with a Palestinian newspaper published on Sunday, Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, said Washington would announce its Middle East peace plan soon and would press on with or without Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kushner visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt before talks on Friday and Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His comments underlined gaping divisions between Washington and the Palestinian leadership that have widened since Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December and moved the U.S. Embassy there, overriding decades of U.S. policy.

Palestinian officials, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, accused Kushner of trying to undermine Abbas and what they described as their leader’s moderate camp.

The U.S. plan is expected to propose solutions to core issues in dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians, such as borders, the future of Israeli settlements, the fate of Palestinian refugees and security.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. Israeli forces and settlers pulled out of the Gaza Strip, now controlled by Abbas’ main rival, the Islamist Hamas group, in 2005. U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014, Reuters reported.

 

Read more from Shafaqna:

Palestinian leader Abbas calls for Middle East peace conference

14 Palestinians killed since Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

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