Representatives from around 70 nations will meet in Paris Sunday to try to chart a course toward restarting moribund Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. It later annexed east Jerusalem, where key Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy sites are located, and continues to occupy the West Bank. There are now around 600,000 Israelis living in West Bank and east Jerusalem settlements, considered a major obstacle to peace. Trump condemned the UN settlement resolution and has nominated David Friedman, a supporter of settlement expansion, as his Israeli ambassador. Israel fears the Paris conference will produce measures that will be taken to the UN Security Council before Trump becomes president.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 14, 2017 16:54 UTC