PA: Messages from US confirm deal of the century is off the table

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Richard Mills, the US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, has called on Israel and the Palestinians not to take unilateral measures that will constitute an obstacle to a two-state solution.

Thousands take part at a rally in Gaza City, held by the ” Palestinian Islamic Jihad ” (PIJ) organization, to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of its establishment. Gaza, Oct 5, 2019. Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, less than a week after President Joe Biden entered the White House, Mills said the new US administration’s policy on the Palestinian issue was based on advancing a two-state solution and on mutual agreement between Israel and the Palestinians and measures that will ensure the security of a “Jewish and democratic” Israel alongside the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

Mills said the US is urging the parties not to take unilateral measures including the construction of settlements, house demolitions, and land annexation, as well as the PA’s payment of salaries to terrorists, which he described as “compensation.”

Mills added that the administration will renew its relations with the Palestinian leadership and people, as well as its economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

The Biden administration will also begin steps towards reopening the PLO office in Washington, but Mills added that the US will continue to stand “firmly” alongside Israel and that the administration’s policy is “the best way to ensure Israel’s future as a democratic and Jewish state,”

The Palestinian Authority welcomes his statements, and Nabil Shaath, Abu Mazen’s political adviser, said in this regard that the US administration’s remarks on the resumption of relations with the Palestinian side are a positive and good thing, although the American strategy is not expected to change completely.

In the Palestinian Authority, efforts are continuing to convene an international peace conference, and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki addressed UNSC and called on the Quartet to renew its efforts and convene an international conference based on international agreements.

The Quartet comprises the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia, and is involved in mediating the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.

The Palestinian Authority is sighing after four years of murky relations with the White House and the Trump administration, which closed down the PLO offices in Washington, stopped donations to the UN Relief and Works Agency, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

In particular, satisfaction is evident in Ramallah from what appears to be a removal of what they perceive as a strategic threat in the form of the Deal of the Century. Ahmad Majdalani, the PA’s welfare minister, said that the Palestinian Authority had received messages from the United States that the US administration had removed the previous former President Donald Trump’s from the table, as well as the annexation plans for territories in Judea and Samaria.

“There are channels of communication between the Palestinian Authority and Biden’s staff, and now relations with the United States can be returned to normal after important indications of the removal of the Deal of the Century from the table,” Majdalani said.

Majdalani also said, based on the messages, that soon the PLO offices will open in Washington and so will the American consulate in eastern Jerusalem. It should be noted that in his remarks, Mills did not mention the embassy in Jerusalem or the consulate.

However, Majdalani said that due to the many internal problems facing the Biden administration, the renewal of the diplomatic process is not expected in the near future.