In a speech Sunday during a visit to the Italian southern port city of Bari to reflect on peace in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Pope Francis lamented the many areas of war and conflict, including in the Middle East and Northern Africa, AP reported.

Pope Francis spoke of “the still unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine, with the danger of not fair solutions, and, thus, presaging new crises.”

On January 28, Trump unveiled his so-called deal of the century, negotiated with Israel but without the Palestinians.

The new US peace plan would let Israel annex all of its settlements along with the strategic Jordan Valley. It would give the Palestinians limited autonomy in several chunks of territory with a capital on the outskirts of Al-Quds, but only if they meet stringent conditions.

Palestinian leaders, who severed all ties with Washington in late 2017 after Trump controversially recognized Al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime, immediately rejected the plan, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying it “belongs to the dustbin of history,” according to Press TV.

On February 11, Abbas told the UN Security Council that the US plan is in breach of United Nations resolutions and Palestinian sovereignty.

“I would like to say to Mr. Donald Trump that his plan cannot achieve peace and security as it cancels international legitimacy,” Abbas said.

Stressing that the plan would legitimize Israel’s illegal settlements and the annexation of occupied Palestinian land, Abbas said, “If you impose peace, it will not last, it cannot last. What gives you the right to annex these lands?”

The Palestinian president also called on the international community not to consider the plan as an international reference for negotiations, saying, “It is an Israeli-American preemptive plan in order to put an end to the question of Palestine.”

Palestinian leaders say the deal is a colonial plan to unilaterally control historic Palestine in its entirety and remove Palestinians from their homeland. They say it heavily favors Israel and would deny them a viable independent state.