عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Abbas to Visit Moscow to Activate Int’l Quartet

President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool
President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool
TT
TT

Abbas to Visit Moscow to Activate Int’l Quartet

President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool
President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Moscow soon to discuss with Russian officials the Palestinian cause, according to presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

Abu Rudeineh did not give further details, stressing the good ties between the two countries.

"Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has recently visited Russia. We are planning negotiations with the leadership of the Palestinian National Authority," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Our proposal to hold a Palestinian-Israeli summit meeting in Moscow remains relevant," the Ministry added.

The Foreign Ministry pointed out that Russia also calls for convening a ministerial meeting of the Middle East Quartet in cooperation with the Arab League to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

This is not the first time Russia attempts to mediate between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Moscow had previously encouraged a meeting between Abbas and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reliable Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Abbas hopes for Russian pressure towards activating the Quartet.

The sources added that there is coordination and ongoing Palestinian-Russian attempts to activate the Quartet, consisting of the US, Russia, the EU, and the UN.

Yet, the US is not likely to take such step over concerns that the pressure might cause the collapse of the coalition government in Israel.

The authority has demanded reactivating the Quartet committee and expressed willingness to engage in talks brokered by it.

The Quartet was formed in 2002 to sponsor the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, but it’s role ended because the parties believed it was ineffective.

The Trump administration rejected to reactivate it unless the Palestinians agreed to a peace solution according to his so-called Deal of the Century proposal.

The committee held its first meeting on March 24 after Joe Biden assumed the US presidency. It called for resuming meaningful negotiations based on a two-state solution in line with international resolutions.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
TT
TT

Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)

The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money.

The offshore floating pier, announced by Biden in March as a response to the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, was constructed off the coast of the enclave by the US military as a way to bring in food and other aid supplies.

The US military has been authorized to operate it until the end of July, but a US Agency for International Development official said this week that the administration could seek to extend it for at least another month.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, sent to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has not been previously reported.

Rogers has long opposed the pier and has called in the past for it to be dismantled, but he had not previously expressed that view in a formal written letter to the administration.

His armed services committee is the Pentagon's top oversight body in the House of Representatives, and formal requests from its chairman traditionally require a response from Pentagon officials.

Aid first began arriving via the US-built pier on May 17 into Gaza, where nearly all the 2.3 million residents have been displaced by Israel's campaign against the Hamas movement.

But rough seas have damaged the pier, forcing repairs, and poor weather has limited the number of days the pier has been operational. Most of the supplies that have reached the shore have yet to be distributed by UN aid agencies which say their operations have been limited by insecurity.

"As of June 19, JLOTS had only been operational about 10 days and had only moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza," Rogers wrote, using the US military's acronym for the pier system, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

According to US military data, as of Tuesday, 8,332 pallets had been delivered via the pier. But around 84% of them have been sitting on Gaza's coast in a marshalling area waiting to be picked up by the United Nations for distribution.

The World Food Program paused deliveries earlier this month over security concerns.

Reuters was given rare access to the US military-run pier off Gaza on Tuesday and saw aid pallets being moved from a vessel onto the 1,200-foot (370 m)-long pier as it bobbed around with the incoming waves. The pallets were then taken by trucks to the coast.

The operation is complex, involving about 1,000 US military personnel. The Pentagon estimates the first 90 days of operation will cost about $230 million.

Rogers also noted that three US servicemembers suffered non-combat injuries while deployed on the operation.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," Rogers wrote.