US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt has publicly called on the Palestinians to recognize the State of Israel and commit to nonviolence.
Uploaded on his Twitter page Greenblatt who has paid several visits to the region in a bid to inject energy into the moribund peace talks said “The United States stresses that any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence recognition of the State of Israel acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties and peaceful negotiations.”
In addition Greenblatt mentioned underway efforts to reconcile the Palestinian political factions which he said have been the byproduct of pressure by several neighboring countries.
“The United States welcomes efforts to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in Gaza as noted in the September 28 Quartet statement” he declared in the brief.
Greenblatt’s statement has been read as a rare layout of the White House’s preconditions to kick-start stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The comments were released shortly after the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah began his reconciliation visit to Gaza on Monday arriving in a vehicle motorcade through the Erez border crossing separating Israel and Gaza. He was accompanied by a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority dozens of aides and armed bodyguards.
Upon entering the Gaza Strip al-Hamdallah said that he hoped the reconciliation would succeed and that the main beneficiary of the division between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas is Israel.
