Former US Secretary of State Kerry Asks Abbas to Propose ‘Reasonable’ Peace Plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets then US Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah in 2015. (Reuters)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets then US Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah in 2015. (Reuters)
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Former US Secretary of State Kerry Asks Abbas to Propose ‘Reasonable’ Peace Plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets then US Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah in 2015. (Reuters)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets then US Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah in 2015. (Reuters)

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to propose a “reasonable” peace plan, vowing to exert efforts to garner international support for it.

His comments came during a London discussion about the Middle East peace process with Hussein Agha, a Lebanese academic who is close to Abbas, reported the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv.

Kerry, 74, said his advanced age would not hinder him from running for the presidency once again, urging Agha to tell Abbas to “stay strong” and “play for time” while President Donald Trump is in office. It was reported that Kerry said that within a year there was a good chance that Trump would not be in the White House.

The former Secretary of State did not rule out to Agha the possibility of running for president in 2020.

He offered his help to the Palestinians in an effort to advance the peace process and recommended that Abbas present his own peace plan.

“Maybe it is time for the Palestinians to define their peace principles and present a positive plan,” Kerry suggested.

The US official pledged to employ his connections in the international community in order to garner support for this plan, reported Ma'ariv.

In addition, Kerry advised Abbas, through Agha, to stop criticizing the US and its administration and to instead only focus on Trump because he is the sole person responsible for the current situation, said the Israeli newspaper.

He also spoke about how senior US officials, intelligence and security agencies were disappointed in the way Trump is leading the country.

Kerry remarked that overcoming this stage requires patience and perseverance.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.