Israel has been speeding up efforts to expand the settlements in other parts of Area C. On 30 May, it announced nearly 2,000 new homes, the great majority of them in isolated settlements that it was previously assumed would be dismantled in any peace deal.
Additionally, Israel has been quietly preparing to "legalize" what are termed "outposts" -- settlements, usually built on private Palestinian land, that violate a "no new settlements" agreement with the US dating from the 90s.
At the same time, Israel has been destroying Palestinian communities in Area C, especially those that stand in the way of efforts to create territorial continuity between large settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Late last month, France objected after Israel's supreme court approved a plan to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, next to Maale Adumim. The families are supposed to be moved to a garbage dump in Abu Dis.
The French statement warned that Israeli actions were threatening "a zone of strategic importance to the two-state solution and the contiguity of a future Palestinian state."
In its place, it was recently revealed, Israel is planning to build a new settlement neighbourhood called Nofei Bereishit.
In another sign of mounting international concern, some 70 Democratic members of the US Congress appealed last month to Netanyahu to stop the destruction of the Palestinian community of Sussiya, between the Gush Etzion settlements and Jerusalem.
US lawmakers expressed concern that the move was designed to "jeopardize the prospects for a two-state solution."
6. Gaza and SinaiIt is becoming hard for the Trump administration and Israel to ignore the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza -- one Israel helped to engineer with an 11-year blockade and intermittent military attacks. The United Nations warned some time ago that Gaza would soon be "uninhabitable."
Seeking a solution, the White House hosted 19 countries at a meeting in March to consider the situation in Gaza. The PA boycotted the meeting.
At the time, Arab media reported that the Trump peace plan might include a commitment from Egypt to free up northern Sinai for a future Palestinian state. According to a Hamas official, Cairo offered reassurances that it was opposed to "settling Palestinians in Sinai."
But a report in Haaretz has revived concerns that the White House may try to achieve a similar end by other means, by launching a Gaza initiative to coincide with the peace plan.
The paper noted that the Trump team had picked up proposals from an Israeli general, Yoav Mordechai, who participated in the White House meeting in March.
A reported initial stage would see Palestinians from Gaza recruited to work on $1.5bn worth of long-term projects in northern Sinai, funded by the international community. The projects would include an industrial zone, a desalination plant and a power station.
Egyptian opposition to such an initiative is reported to be weakening, presumably in the face of strenuous pressure from Washington and Arab allies.
Palestinian protestsThe Palestinians are doing their best to try to halt the peace plan in its tracks. They are currently boycotting the Trump administration to show their displeasure.
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