There seems to be little hope for lasting peace in the Middle East, especially now that the United States, under President Donald Trump, is no longer considered to be an honest broker.

Gaza, for example, is now on the verge of total collapse, yet Trump doesn’t seem to care. Israel has been left to act as it pleases – as shown by the way it reacted to the protests on the Gaza-Israel border last week. Israel has enforced a devastating blockade on Gaza for more than a decade, and Hamas firing rockets into Israel has not helped matters at all.

The painful compromises the Palestinians have made for peace in the region, including recognising Israel and trying to build their State on just 22 per cent of the land of the historic Palestine of 1948 have unfortunately led to nothing.  

President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the US Embassy there has again sent the wrong message. It encouraged Israelis to continue pursuing its policies in occupied East Jerusalem and to forcibly transfer the Palestinian population out of the city.

Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital violates the UN Security Council’s resolution on acquisition of territory by force. It also contradicts the Oslo peace accord, which says that the final status of Jerusalem should be decided by negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

But as usual, the ‘America first’ President, who managed to steal the presidency from Hillary Clinton, doesn’t care. He is not interested in upholding international law; neither is he interested in trying to create a future of hope, freedom, justice and peace for both the Israelis and the Palestinians.