Palestinians give cool reception to US peace conference

FILE - In this April 29, 2019, file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center, chairs a session of the weekly cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Trump administration will unveil the first phase of its long-awaited blueprint for Mideast peace next month at a conference in the region designed to highlight economic benefits that could be reaped if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved, the White House said Sunday, May 19. Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, envoy of international negotiations, have been leading efforts to write the plan, but so far, there's been no participation from the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, Pool, File)

JERUSALEM – The Palestinians are giving a cool reception to an American plan to hold a conference next month to unveil the first phase of its Mideast peace plan.

The White House announced Sunday that it will hold the gathering in Bahrain to discuss large-scale investment in the Palestinian territories. It said the conference will not address the contentious political aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as final borders, and the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, says "any plan without a political horizon will not lead to peace."

The Palestinians severed ties with the White House after President Donald Trump recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017. The U.S. has responded by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars of aid.