Even if there are little prospects for a peace process with Israel, US President Joe Biden stated during a visit to the occupied West Bank on Friday that Palestinians need to see a route to statehood.
Prior to a flight to Saudi Arabia, whose officials on Friday amended aviation regulations in what appeared to be a gesture of openness towards Israel, Biden paid a visit to Bethlehem. By declaring it will ease restrictions on “all carriers,” Riyadh opened its airspace to Israeli aircraft, a move Biden hailed as “historic”.After negotiations with the Israeli leadership on Thursday, the president will travel to the Saudi city of Jeddah to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
In order to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Biden reaffirmed his administration’s support for a two-state solution, stating there “must be a political horizon that the Palestinian people can truly see.” He joined Abbas in saying, “I know that the aim of the two states appears so far away,” in BethlehemThe Palestinian president declared he was “taking initiatives” to strengthen bilateral ties and wanted to see Trump establish the US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem once more. Recognizing the state of Palestine is the first step toward achieving peace, according to Abbas. The US delegation has been concentrating on economic measures since Israeli-Palestinian peace discussions have been deadlocked since 2014.
After Donald Trump, the previous US president, slashed money to the UN organisation that helps Palestinian refugees, Biden pledged an additional $200 million. Biden promised a $100 million aid package for medical institutions in the region earlier on Friday while paying a visit to a hospital in east Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed. The controversial decision by Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital upset Palestinians who see its eastern section as the location of their future state, but he made it clear on Thursday that he had no plans to alter that decision.
