Palestinian president meets Trump aide in Ramallah

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt in the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah.

“They [Abbas and Greenblatt] reaffirmed the commitment of both the Palestinian authority and the United States to advance the genuine and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement.

President Abbas told Greenblatt that he believes that under President Trump's leadership a historic peace deal is possible, and that it will enhance security throughout the region, it said.

“He [Abbas] added that he is looking forward to discussing the possibilities for peace directly with President Trump during his upcoming visit to Washington,” the statement reads.

Jason Greenblatt, for his part, underscored President Trump's commitment to working with Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a lasting peace through direct negotiations.

"He also emphasized the importance of all parties working to de-escalate tensions. President Abbas committed to preventing inflammatory rhetoric and incitement," according to the statement.

Greenblatt arrived Sunday to the region for several days visit, where he first met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for more than five hours.

According to a statement by Netanyahu’s office the visit aims to “continue discussions relating to settlement construction in the hope of working out an approach that is consistent with the goal of advancing peace and security.

Peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators collapsed in April 2014 over Israel's refusal to release a group of Palestinian political prisoners despite earlier pledges.

Since then, all attempts to revive negotiations between the two sides have failed, due mainly to Israel's insistence on continuing settlement construction on occupied territories.

Settlement activity has been on the rise since Trump was sworn in January -- thousands more have been approved in three separate plans.

Approximately 500,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians want these areas -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.