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PA to Present List of Demands to US Point Man for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh visits a Palestinian prisoner that Israeli authorities released following a hunger strike. (dpa)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh visits a Palestinian prisoner that Israeli authorities released following a hunger strike. (dpa)
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PA to Present List of Demands to US Point Man for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh visits a Palestinian prisoner that Israeli authorities released following a hunger strike. (dpa)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh visits a Palestinian prisoner that Israeli authorities released following a hunger strike. (dpa)

Palestinians will likely make several demands to the Biden administration’s point person for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Hadi Amr, scheduled to visit the region to meet officials from both sides.

Amr’s stopover is unique in that it is the first visit by a senior US official since the formation of the new Israeli government and also comes as the Palestinian Authority is going through a deep domestic political crisis over the killing of political activist Nizar Banat by security forces.

The deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs is expected to meet senior officials from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister’s Office, and Ministry of Defense, according to a report by Hebrew news website “Walla! NEWS”.

Meanwhile, in Ramallah, Amr will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other government officials.

According to Israeli officials who spoke to Walla! NEWS, one reason for the trip is to allow Amr to meet new Israeli officials and discuss the new government’s policies on the West Bank and Gaza.

Specifically, he is expected to raise the reconstruction of Gaza and the new UN mechanism to transfer a Qatari grant to Gaza.

Israeli officials also expect him to raise the Israeli military’s demolitions of homes in the West Bank, a practice the Biden administration recently criticized.

In Ramallah, Amr will likely discuss the internal political crisis as well as chances for advancing peace.

According to a report prepared by the Israeli Channel 12, the Palestinian Authority has prepared a list of “confidential” demands that it plans to present to the Biden administration before resuming US-sponsored talks with Israel.

These demands will probably include reopening some Palestinian institutions in east Jerusalem, restoring the previous status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque, and enhancing the status of the PA’s envoys.

Stopping home evictions of Arab Jerusalemites and releasing the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners, according to an old agreement with Israel that has not been completed yet, will presumably also figure high on the list of the PA’s demands.

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Arab World

Red Crescent Says Israeli Settler Gunfire Kills Two Palestinians Including Child

A worker walks past a Palestinian flag installed along a street in Turmus Ayya village, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)
A worker walks past a Palestinian flag installed along a street in Turmus Ayya village, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)
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Red Crescent Says Israeli Settler Gunfire Kills Two Palestinians Including Child

A worker walks past a Palestinian flag installed along a street in Turmus Ayya village, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)
A worker walks past a Palestinian flag installed along a street in Turmus Ayya village, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 19, 2026. (AFP)

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli settler gunfire killed two people, including a 13-year-old child, in an attack on Tuesday near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

"Two people were killed -- one aged 13 and the other 32 -- and four others were injured by live gunfire during a settler attack on the village of Al-Mughayyir near Ramallah," the Red Crescent said in a statement, adding the wounded had been taken to hospital.

When asked by AFP, the Israeli military -- which has occupied the West Bank since 1967 -- said it was looking into the incident.

Arab World

Israel Says Applying Diplomatic, Military Pressure to Disarm Hezbollah

Mourners carry the flag-draped casket of a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group who was killed in southern Lebanon during their funeral in the Kafaat area in Beirut's southern suburbs on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
Mourners carry the flag-draped casket of a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group who was killed in southern Lebanon during their funeral in the Kafaat area in Beirut's southern suburbs on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Says Applying Diplomatic, Military Pressure to Disarm Hezbollah

Mourners carry the flag-draped casket of a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group who was killed in southern Lebanon during their funeral in the Kafaat area in Beirut's southern suburbs on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
Mourners carry the flag-draped casket of a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group who was killed in southern Lebanon during their funeral in the Kafaat area in Beirut's southern suburbs on April 20, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that his country's campaign in Lebanon relied on both military and diplomatic pressure to disarm Iran-allied Hezbollah.

"The overarching goal of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah and remove the threat to the northern communities (of Israel), through a combination of military and diplomatic measures," Katz said during a ceremony marking Israel's national day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror.

"We will act in the same way with regard to high-trajectory fire (towards Israel) from north of the Litani and from throughout Lebanon," he added, referring to the Litani river, a natural marker that cuts across southern Lebanon, below which Israel wants no more Hezbollah presence.

Though a truce between Israel and Lebanon took effect Friday, Israeli troops are still present and actively fighting Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon's south, with Katz saying Sunday that troops would use "full force" if threatened.

Israel has conducted airstrikes across Lebanon and invaded the country's south after Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in support of its backer Iran on March 2.

An Arabic-language spokesperson for Israel's military on Monday warned Lebanese residents of the country's south not to return to the homes it had earlier urged them to evacuate, saying it considered Hezbollah activities in the area to be ceasefire violations.

Israel and Lebanon are still engaged in talks under US mediation to prolong the current truce.

The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran looms in the background of talks, with the truce set to expire overnight Tuesday with no new deal yet struck.

Arab World

Lebanon Seeking to Leverage US Support in Negotiations with Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting with Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad (out of frame) and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (out of frame) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting with Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad (out of frame) and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (out of frame) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Lebanon Seeking to Leverage US Support in Negotiations with Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting with Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad (out of frame) and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (out of frame) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting with Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad (out of frame) and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (out of frame) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)

Efforts to extend the ceasefire in Lebanon are accelerating amid Israeli reports of a new round of talks at the ambassador level paving the way for direct negotiations.

Lebanese officials say a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and US President Donald Trump could be scheduled “at any moment,” stressing it will remain bilateral and will not include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has confirmed a US push to extend the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. However, official Lebanese sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Beirut does not view the expected talks as limited to extending the truce, which expires at the end of the week.

The next step, the sources said, would be direct negotiations. Lebanon is ready to proceed after naming its delegation head, Ambassador Simon Karam, and preparing the necessary files.

Lebanese and Israeli representatives will hold talks in Washington on Thursday, a US State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Monday.

Aoun said Lebanon would conduct the talks through a delegation led by Karam, stressing no other party would represent or replace it.

Lebanese ministerial sources said the meeting would focus on extending the truce and setting a framework for direct negotiations, including their timing and location.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa met Aoun and Berri after returning to Beirut following the ceasefire announcement, without making public statements.

Berri confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Washington is working to extend the truce but declined to comment on direct negotiations.

In a statement, Aoun noted the goal of the talks is to halt hostilities, end Israel’s presence in southern areas and deploy the Lebanese army along internationally recognized borders.

Trump had shown understanding of Lebanon’s position and intervened to help secure the ceasefire and launch a negotiating track aimed at restoring full Lebanese sovereignty, he remarked.

“The choice is between continued war, with its humanitarian, social and economic costs, or negotiations to end it and achieve lasting stability,” Aoun stated.

Hezbollah, for its part, has criticized the move toward direct talks. MP Hassan Fadlallah told AFP it would be in Lebanon’s interest to abandon that path and return to a national consensus, warning against unilateral decisions on issues tied to the country’s future.

He said the group would oppose any attempt to impose political concessions, calling for a sustained ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, the return of displaced residents, the release of detainees and reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Paul Morcos stressed that the Lebanese president values Saudi Arabia’s role in securing the ceasefire, noting Riyadh’s diplomacy contributed to the truce.

Lebanon continues to count on Saudi and broader Gulf support, he said, describing those ties as strategic and based on shared principles, including sovereignty and independence.