Sweden welcomes release of Trump's Mideast plan

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) - Sweden said Tuesday that it welcomed the release of U.S. proposals for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Twitter that the European Union’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was clear.

"We support a negotiated two-state solution, firmly anchored in international law, with Israel and Palestine living in peace and security with Jerusalem as the capital of both states," Linde said.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump released his oft-delayed plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute during a press conference at the White House, where he was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian authorities were not represented.

During the news conference, Trump referred to Jerusalem as "Israel's undivided capital".

The so-called peace plan offered everything the far-right Israelis have been demanding, giving Palestinians nothing but vague economic promises and the tiniest glimmer of hope for statehood.

Trump tied Palestinian statehood to "firm rejection of terrorism" while Netanyahu listed a number of impossible criteria such as disarming Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza, recognizing the Jewish state and Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and other strategic areas in order for negotiations on statehood to even start with Palestinians.

The Palestinian group Hamas decried the terms of the agreement.

"This deal isn’t worth the paper it's written on and Jerusalem will remain for Palestinians," it said.