Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said the US administration must exert pressure on Israel to halt its policies and measures.
He made the demand during a meeting in Ramallah with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“We cannot accept the continuation of the Israeli crimes. We will confront these measures and defend the rights of our people and our lands and holy sites.”
Mahmoud Abbas
“We cannot accept the continuation of the Israeli crimes,” Abbas was quoted as telling Sullivan. “We will confront these measures and defend the rights of our people and our lands and holy sites.”
Abbas: Israel threatens security and stability
Abbas told Sullivan that the Israeli “escalation” in the West Bank threatens security and stability, according to PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh, who attended the meeting together with Majed Faraj, head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service.
Abbas also warned that the Israeli “escalation” and other measures would destroy the two-state solution,” Sheikh said.
“The President called on the US administration to intervene immediately and to place pressure on the occupation government to halt its policies, measures and escalation,” he wrote on Twitter.Abbas and Sullivan discussed bilateral relations, as well as “the dangerous situation due to the Israeli escalation,” Sheikh said.
Abbas had warned during the meeting about the repercussions of Israel’s “dangerous measures, including settlement construction, daily killings, incursions into Palestinian cities and towns, as well as violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites,” according to a statement released by Abbas’s office.
Abbas also complained about the Israeli government’s recent decision to seize tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinians in response to payments made by the PA to families of security prisoners and those killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis.
He urged the US administration to fulfill its commitment to preserve the two-state solution, halt settlement construction, maintain the status quo in Jerusalem and halt Israeli unilateral moves.
Abbas also demanded that the US administration make good on its promise to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem and the PLO diplomatic mission in Washington, which were closed by the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
The White House said that in Ramallah Sullivan stressed that the Biden administration wanted to strengthen "engagement with the PA and deepening ties with the Palestinian people.
"They discussed US support for peace, preserving the path towards negotiations for two states, and advancing equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians.
Sullivan reviewed US "commitments to the Palestinian people, including support for the east Jerusalem Hospital Network and establishment of 4G infrastructure in the West Bank," the White House said.
He also told the PA leaders they needed to help
"He also discussed the need for Palestinian leaders to help "descalate tensions in the West Bank and to strengthen Palestinian institutions.
"Finally, they exchanged views on measures to build trust, enhance security, and foster conditions for a political horizon," the White House said.