Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas has said that he is ready to meet Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the US next month to continue discussion on ways to reach a peace deal.
“I am ready to meet the prime minister of Israel any time in Washington under the patronage of President [Donald] Trump,” Abbas told
The Asahi Shimbun late last month.
The White House on Wednesday said that Trump would host Abbas in Washington on May 3,
Reuters reported.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: “They will use the visit to reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel.”
The meeting will aim to end the historic distrust between Israel and Palestine.
“We are going to meet President Trump in April to continue our discussion on how to conclude a peace deal with the help of the US president,” Abbas said in written responses to The Asahi Shimbun's questions.
He said Palestine was glad that the US administration “listens about us from us, and not from third parties.”
Building of settlements by Israel in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has been one of the most heated issues between Israel and the Palestinians.
Trump said during presidential campaign that he did not necessarily see settlements as an obstacle to peace. Israel apparently interpreted the comment as a green signal and announced plans to build at least 6,000 more settler homes since Trump took office.
But during Netanyahu's visit, Trump said he wanted the Israeli prime minister to “hold back on settlements for a little bit”.
Trump spoke to Abbas on March 10 and invited him to the White House. He told Abbas that a peace deal must be “negotiated directly between Israel and Palestine” and that the US would work closely with both parties to achieve the goal.
Trump's more favourable approach to Israel has stoked concerns among Palestinians. He spoke to Netanyahu at least twice since taking office on January 20 and the Israeli prime minister visited Washington in February.
During a February 15 media conference, Trump was ambivalent about a
two-state solution. “I am looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like,” he said.
Abbas stressed that there was “no alternative to the two-state solution on the 1967 border”.
“We have called upon the US administration to engage in making a peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis and that we are willing to help and cooperate based on two states on 1967,” he added.