DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain is defending its decision to host a White House-engineered conference to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, saying its only objective is to support the "brotherly Palestinian people."

The Palestinian Authority has rejected the economic conference planned for next month, saying any peace push that ignores the Palestinian people's aspirations for an independent state is doomed to fail.

Bahrain's foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, said his country supports the Palestinian demand for an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital. He tweeted Tuesday that it also respects the Palestinian leadership's steadfast position safeguarding Palestinian rights.

The Trump administration hopes to rally Arab Gulf countries to get Palestinians to buy into its Mideast peace plan, which has yet to be released.