Abbas tells US he aims to “get rid of the occupation”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has told the US that his goal is to “get rid of the occupation,” and that East Jerusalem is and always will be the capital of the State of Palestine, Israel Hayom reports. Abbas made his declarations Saturday while hosting a delegation of US officials led by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf.

The US State Department said in a statement that during her three-day visit to the Palestinian Authority, Leaf met with Abbas “to discuss the US-Palestinian relationship, US assistance to Palestinians, deepening ties, and how Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve equal measures of freedom, security, and prosperity.”

According to the US statement, Abbas raised with Leaf the issues of settlement approvals, Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, and what he described as “Israeli escalations” against Islamic and Christian holy sites, Israel Hayom reports.

“Our goal is to get rid of the occupation on the basis of the resolutions of international legitimacy. East Jerusalem is and will remain forever the capital of the State of Palestine,” Abbas told Leaf.

Abbas also renewed his request for the Palestine Liberation Organization to be removed from the U.S. list of terrorist entities, and for the PLO’s office in Washington and the American consulate for eastern Jerusalem to be reopened following their closure under the Trump administration.

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