PA resumes contacts with US administration

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office near a poster of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on 17 August 2020 [NASSER NASSER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced on Monday the resumption of contacts with Washington, Al-Quds Al-Araby has reported. He made the announcement during his weekly cabinet meeting.

Shtayyeh said that he had spoken with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs, Hadi Amro. “We discussed ways to resume Palestinian-American relations, including the opening of diplomatic and consular offices, as well as resuming US aid, supporting UNRWA and pushing forward the peace process.”

PA President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the US following former US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.

According to Shtayyeh, he told Amro that Abbas “is ready to start a political process based on international legitimacy and international law, and brokered by the international Quartet.”

In response, the prime minister explained, Amro said that the US administration would be committed “gradually” to its obligations announced during the election campaign.

READ: Is Biden going to make US aid conditional on more Palestinian concessions?

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