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
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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.



Biden Warns Israel against Iran Oil Strikes as War Fears Mount

US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
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Biden Warns Israel against Iran Oil Strikes as War Fears Mount

US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2024. (AFP)

US President Joe Biden on Friday advised Israel against striking Iran's oil facilities, saying he was trying to rally the world to avoid the escalating prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.

But his predecessor Donald Trump, currently campaigning for another term in power, went so far as to suggest Israel should "hit" Iran's nuclear sites.

Making a surprise first appearance in the White House briefing room, Biden said that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu "should remember" US support for Israel when deciding on next steps.

"If I were in their shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields," Biden told reporters, when asked about his comments a day earlier that Washington was discussing the possibility of such strikes with its ally.

Biden added that the Israelis "have not concluded how they're, what they're going to do" in retaliation for a huge ballistic missile attack by Iran on Israel on Tuesday.

The price of oil had jumped after Biden's remarks Thursday.

Any long-term rise could be damaging for US Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Republican Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.

Meanwhile Trump, campaigning in North Carolina, offered a far more provocative view of what he thinks a response to Iran should be, referencing a question posed to Biden this week about the possibility of Israel targeting Iran's nuclear program.

"They asked him, 'what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran?' And he goes, 'As long as they don't hit the nuclear stuff.' That's the thing you want to hit, right?" Trump told a town hall style event in Fayetteville, near a major US military base.

Biden "got that one wrong," Trump said.

"When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later," Trump added.

Trump has spoken little about the recent escalation in tensions in the Middle East. But he issued a scathing statement this week, holding Biden and Harris responsible for the crisis.

- 'Wait to see' -

Biden's appearance at the famed briefing room podium was not announced in advance, taking reporters by surprise.

It comes at a tense time as he prepares to leave office with the Mideast situation boiling over and political criticism at home over his handling of a recent hurricane that struck the US southeast.

Biden said he was doing his best to avoid a full-scale conflagration in the Middle East, where Israel is bombing Lebanon in a bid to wipe out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

"The main thing we can do is try to rally the rest of the world and our allies into participating... to tamp this down," he told reporters.

"But when you have (Iranian) proxies as irrational as Hezbollah and the Houthis (of Yemen)... it's a hard thing to determine."

Biden however had tough words for Netanyahu, with whom he has had rocky relations as he seeks to manage Israel's response following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The Israeli premier has repeatedly ignored Biden's calls for restraint on Lebanon, and on Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

Biden deflected a question on whether he believed Netanyahu was hanging back on signing a Middle East peace deal in a bid to influence the US presidential election.

"No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None, none, none. And I think Bibi should remember that," Biden said.

"And whether he's trying to influence the election, I don't know, but I'm not counting on that."

Biden said he had still not spoken to Netanyahu since the Iranian attack, which involved some 200 missiles, but added their teams were in "constant contact."

"They're not going to make a decision immediately, and so we're going to wait to see when they want to talk," the US leader added.

Iran said its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023 attacks.