The United States seeks to bypass the Palestinian Authority's refusal to engage in the Middle East peace process by mediating between Arab leaders and Palestinian officials who oppose Ramallah's policies, the Al-Khaleej Online website reported Thursday.
Relations between Washington and Ramallah have been particularly strained since U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last December and subsequently moved the U.S. Embassy there in May. The move outraged Palestinians, who envision parts of Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has since refused to engage with any of Trump's Middle East envoys, saying that the U.S. bias in favor of Israel proves it cannot act as an impartial mediator in regional peace talks.
The Trump administration has since taken other steps against the Palestinian Authority, including suspending its sizable contribution to the U.N. aid agency assisting Palestinian refugees and shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization's mission in Washington.
According to the United Arab Emirates-based Alkhaleej Online, the U.S. has recently sponsored a series of secret meetings in Abu Dhabi in an attempt to promote a long-term cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the EU, U.S., Israel and several other countries, ousted Abbas' Fatah-led government from Gaza in a military coup in 2007, effectively splitting the Palestinian population into two distinct political and geographical entities. All efforts made over the past decade to reconcile between the rival Palestinian factions – the latest brokered by Egypt in late 2017 – have failed.
Egypt has been instrumental in trying to broker an Israel-Hamas truce agreement in recent weeks, in an effort to prevent a recent flare-up in violence from escalating into full-blown war.
Abbas, however, has declared his government would spare no effort to torpedo these efforts, which also sought to outline an agreement that would pave the way for Gaza's reconstruction and an eventual prisoner swap, arguing that Hamas has no authority to hold any kind of talks, direct or indirect, with Israel on behalf of any Palestinian public.
Alkhaleej claimed that three meetings have taken place so far in the United Arab Emirates and included U.S. officials, Palestinian officials "who oppose Abbas," and diplomats from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The online news outlet quoted unnamed Egyptian officials as saying that Israel will join the Abu Dhabi talks "at some point."
American officials, however, denied that any talks were taking place.
The report claimed the meetings were held as part of Washington's efforts to promote its regional peace plan despite Abbas' objections. This is in line with statements by several top White House officials, who said that if Abbas' rejectionism persists, they would "go over his head" to rally Arab leaders in favor of the plan.
Trump has dubbed the plan the "deal of the century," but the White House has yet to set a date for its rollout.
"All of Trump's recent moves regarding Jerusalem and closing the PLO's office have not provoked protest among Arab countries," one Egyptian official said, adding that the American president hopes that appealing to Arab states directly and creating a coalition that supports his peace plan would eventually push the Palestinian Authority to return to the negotiating table.
