WarSclerotic

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is ‎planning to host a conference of world leaders and ‎high-ranking diplomats on the sidelines of the ‎United Nations General Assembly this week with the ‎expressed intention of undermining U.S. President ‎Donald Trump’s regional peace plan, Channel 10 ‎News reported Monday.‎

Relations between Washington and Ramallah have been ‎‎‎particularly strained since U.S. President Donald ‎‎Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s ‎capital last December and subsequently moved the ‎U.S. ‎Embassy there in May. The move outraged ‎Palestinians, who envision east Jerusalem as the ‎capital of a future Palestinian state. ‎

Abbas has ‎since refused ‎to engage with any of ‎Trump’s Middle ‎East envoys, saying that the U.S. ‎bias in favor of Israel ‎proves ‎it cannot act as an ‎impartial mediator in ‎‎regional peace talks.‎

The Trump administration has taken ‎several other steps ‎against the Palestinian ‎Authority, including ‎suspending the large U.S. ‎contributionto the U.N. aid ‎agency assisting ‎Palestinian refugees and shuttering ‎the Palestine ‎Liberation Organization’s mission in ‎Washington. ‎‎

The United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and ‎‎Germany, as well as diplomats from 40 nations and ‎international organizations, have been invited to the conference ‎scheduled for Wednesday, the ‎report said. ‎

Titled “Salvaging the Two-State ‎Solution, ‎Defending the ‎International Rules-Based ‎System,”‎ the conference is set to take place at the Grand Hyatt ‎hotel in New York.‎

In a document distributed to those invited, the Palestinians say the meeting will focus ‎on “countering threats to the two-state solution ‎posed by Israeli settlement expansion in the West ‎Bank,” “formulating ways to safeguard U.N. agencies ‎that deal with matters relating to the ‎Palestinians,” and “advancing ‎steps that would jumpstart peace talks based on the ‎two-state solution and U.N. resolutions.”‎

In the document, obtained by Channel 10‎, the ‎Palestinians claim that Trump’s overall approach to ‎the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is part of his ‎administration’s efforts to “undermine the post-‎World War II world order.”‎

Israeli diplomats have reportedly been trying to ‎undermine the meeting, and have been reaching out to ‎the countries invited, urging them ‎either to pull out or to send only lower-ranking ‎officials.‎

Abbas is scheduled to address the U.N. General ‎Assembly on Thursday, the same day as Prime Minister ‎Benjamin Netanyahu.‎

London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported ‎that the Palestinian leader is expected to urge the ‎international community to save the two-state ‎solution or take responsibility for its demise.‎

Israeli sources said Netanyahu’s speech will touch ‎on the Middle East peace process, but is mostly ‎expected to focus on Iran, Channel 10 said.‎