An American delegation was visiting Ramallah this Saturday evening. Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East Barbara Leaf met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A preparatory meeting for a possible visit to the Joe Biden region.
Joe Biden could go to Israel and in the Palestinian Territories in the coming weeks, even if there is no official confirmation for the moment or precise date, from the side of the White House.
But the Palestinians expect concrete gestures from the American president, after a very tense period under the Trump administration. Joe Biden’s predecessor acknowledged in 2017 Jerusalem as the capital of Israelangering Palestinians who want to make the eastern part of the city the capital of their future state.
During this interview, Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his request to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the American list of terrorist entities.
The American consulate in Jerusalem had also closed, in favor of a simple office in Ramallah. Joe Biden had pledged to reopen it, but that’s still not the case because Israelis oppose it. This reopening of the consulate is also part of the demands made by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to Barbara Leaf, the deputy secretary of state whom he received on Saturday in Ramallah. During this interview, the two parties discussed “ a strengthening of links “, simply declared on Twitter the US State Department.
(and with AFP)