CASABLANCA

Money alone is not enough to solve the Palestinian issue, a UN envoy said.

A U.S.-led conference is set to open in Bahrain on Tuesday during which U.S. officials are expected to unveil the economic portion of their back-channel Middle East peace plan known as “deal of the century”.

"Do you believe that an economic conference can solve the problem of Palestine? This is not true," Miguel Angel Moratinos, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, said during a symposium on the sidelines of Asilah International Cultural Festival in northern Morocco.

"We should address the basic political issues first," he said, addressing Bahrain's representative Ahmed Hashim al-Yusha.

"Security and peace cannot be achieved with money," Moratinos said.

The "deal of the century" has yet to be revealed in full, however, based on leaks in the media, it envisages to make major concessions to Israel regarding the status of Jerusalem city and also regarding right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East dispute, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority said they will not be attending the conference in Bahrain and have rejected any U.S. role in the mediating process ever since U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017.