US envoy asserts peace plan excludes giving Palestinians part of Sinai

CAIRO - 9 May 2019: US Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason D. Greenblatt reiterated that the US so-called "Deal of the Century" does not include giving part of Egypt's Sinai to Gaza.

"Oddly, I am still hearing reports about this – my original tweet still stands," Greenblatt wrote on his old tweet.

The original tweet came as follows:

Hearing reports our plan includes the concept that we will give a portion of Sinai (which is Egypt’s) to Gaza. False! Please don’t believe everything you read. Surprising & sad to see how people who don’t know what’s in the plan make up & spread fake stories.

— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) April 19, 2019

The plan, whose details have not been disclosed, includes the US vision for the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser in the deal, previously said that details about the plan would be released after April 9 elections in Israel; however, he did not announce a certain time.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi visited Washington in April, where he held discussions with US President Trump. During the meeting, Sisi asserted the Palestinians' right to establishing a state based on the borders before the 1967 war, with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital.

Reports earlier claimed that Egypt would give up a portion of northern Sinai located next to the Gaza Strip, according to the planned deal, for the creation of a so-called “New State.”

The “Kushner-Trump Deal of the Century”: Gaza City + parts of the Sinai Desert become The New Palestinian State!

Attractive features include:
•Bankrupt Egypt to be patron
•Pay Palestinians to vacate their land in West Bank
•Israel to hold control of “border” pic.twitter.com/pQ3DSSNXzb

— RulaJebreal (@rulajebreal) April 10, 2019

Trump announced in December 2017, his administration's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The embassy was inaugurated in Jerusalem in May 2018, despite fierce protestation by world leaders, not only Arabs.