Boris Johnson has defended Donald Trump's proposed Middle East peace plan, after the Palestinians rejected the US president's "conspiracy deal".

The prime minister told MPs in the Commons that "no peace plan is perfect", but the US proposal "has the merit of a two-state solution".

Mr Johnson said the Israel-Palestine conflict had "bedevilled the world for decades" and the plan would "ensure that Jerusalem is both the capital of Israel and the Palestinian people".

Trump presents 'win-win' peace plan

He also called on Palestinian leaders to engage with what Mr Trump has proposed.

The PM was responding to questions from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was critical of President Trump's plan.


"It will annex Palestinian territory, lock in illegal Israeli colonisation, transfer Palestinian citizens out of Israel and deny Palestinian people their fundamental rights," Mr Corbyn said.

He called for the British government to instead make clear to Washington that it would "stand for a genuine, internationally-backed peace plan rather than this stuff proposed by Trump yesterday".

He added that the plan "will not bring any move towards peace" and has "no support from any Palestinian anywhere in the world".

Britain should be honest and tell the US it is "wrong", Mr Corbyn continued.

Under the plan, a Palestinian state would be established in parts of the West Bank.

This would consist of the West Bank and Gaza, connected by a combination of roads, bridges and above-ground tunnels.

Is Trump's 'deal of the century' dead on arrival?

The proposal, if realised, would more than double the territory currently under Palestinian control.

But Israel would be allowed to annex nearly all of its settlements in the occupied West Bank, which have been constructed there since the area was captured alongside east Jerusalem by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The West Bank settlements are considered illegal under international law, but Israel disputes this.

A Palestinian capital would be created on the outskirts of east Jerusalem, but most of the city would stay under Israeli control.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Mr Trump said the "realistic" two-state solution was a "win-win opportunity" for both sides.

The Palestinians have already rejected the proposal, accusing Mr Trump of being biased in favour of Israel.

The president has shifted the US position on West Bank settlements since coming to office in 2017, as well as recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Both decisions reversed longstanding US policy.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the peace plan a "conspiracy" and he gave it "a thousand noes".

"After the nonsense that we heard today, we say a thousand noes to the deal of the century."