The United States can no longer broker a peace deal following Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said.
In a message released for Christmas, Mr Abbas said the US President’s decision had “encouraged the illegal disconnection between the holy cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, both separated for the first time in over 2000 years of Christianity.”
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Palestinians had effectively said they were abandoning diplomacy.
Mr Abbas said in his message: “It is because of the US decision to support illegality and the blatant violations of our rights that we will not accept the US as the mediator in the peace process, nor are we going to accept any plan from the US side.
