Ramallah – Tel Aviv – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, in Ramallah, to discuss the means to launch the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Well-informed Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the Palestinian Authority was ready to engage in a fresh round of negotiations with Israel based on four conditions, which include halting illegal settlements, releasing a number of old prisoners, discussing the demarcation of the 1967 borders while guaranteeing the establishment of a Palestinian state within those borders, and determining a timeframe for the end of negotiations.
The sources added that the Palestinian Authority’s new conditions have shown its acceptance to a US mediating role and direct negotiations with Israel, contrary to its previous stance on the need to have an international mechanism as the basis for launching the peace talks.
Trump’s Middle East envoy will meet with Abbas on Tuesday, following a meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sources said that the new US administration was seeking to restart the peace talks, which have been frozen since 2014. They added that the date of an expected visit of Abbas to the White House to meet with Trump would be determined following the Palestinian leader’s meeting with the US envoy.
Greenblatt would discuss with the Israeli side US views on the building of settlements, while he would focus with the Palestinian leadership on the issue of violence incitement, according to sources from the envoy’s accompanying delegation.
On Friday, Trump spoke to Abbas and invited him to the White House. It was the first phone call between the two leaders since Trump took office.
The White House said Trump told Abbas that he believes a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians must be negotiated directly by the both sides.
