Addressing diplomats in New York, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas proposed an “international mechanism” to replace the Americans as the sole broker of negotiations with Israel.

Jared Kushner tried to persuade United Nations Security Council members on Thursday to back his plan for re-starting talks between Israelis and Palestinians amid doubts that the proposal is just cover for an Israeli land grab.  

Palestinian officials went on the offensive at the United Nations, seeking to rally opposition to Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” but their options are limited.

This week, the United Nations attempted to put a figure on exactly how much the occupation was costing the Palestinian economy. The number it arrived at — an estimated $48 billion between 2000 and 2017 — was larger than many expected.

Israeli forces killed and maimed some 2,800 Palestinian children in 2018, the highest number in years, and yet were not mentioned on an annual United Nations blacklist of armed forces that commit atrocities against youth.

Israel is “moving rapidly” towards annexing parts of the Palestinian West Bank and tough rhetoric from Israeli politicians could presage a “dramatic” step in the coming months, United Nations investigator Michael Lynk told Mondoweiss.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees raised $110 million at a pledging meet in New York on Tuesday, but warned that it still needs more cash and may have to cut food handouts to some 1 million Gaza residents over the summer, and might not be able to open schools. The UNRWA event was held on the same day as the administration of US President Donald Trump launched its long-awaited and controversial plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in Bahrain.

A plan to build a cable car for tourists in Jerusalem’s occupied Old City has largely been a local issue so far. That changed on on Thursday, when Palestinian concerns about the new transit route were raised to the international level at a United Nations debate on the fragile peace process.

The Trump administration’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan drew criticism at the United Nations Wednesday, with European and UN officials saying Palestinians should not be coerced into selling off rights to run their own country.

In preparation for the U.S. peace plan that is widely expected to favor Israel, Palestinian officials are urging the EU to host a major conference that would undercut the preeminent US role in the peace process. Could it be enough to counter the Trump administration’s plan?