Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that he is ready to take measures to build trust and restore calm in the Palestinian territories, despite Israel's actions making a two-state solution impossible. Abbas made these remarks during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah at a trilateral summit in Cairo, following days of talks with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in a rare high-level meeting.
Egypt has played a leading role in mediating a truce between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) after 11 days of fighting in May in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Cairo has been trying to stabilize the ceasefire amid sporadic violence and efforts to facilitate the reconstruction of Gaza.
A statement from the Egyptian presidency said, "The leaders tasked officials from the three countries to work together to devise a vision for activating efforts to resume negotiations and work with brothers and partners to revive the peace process, in accordance with approved references."
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014, and analysts say there is little prospect for revival for several reasons, including divisions between Abbas's Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which governs Gaza.
In his speech during the talks in Cairo, Abbas highlighted the impact of "Israeli violations" on peace prospects and stated that "the totality of these Israeli policies and practices has created a reality that makes it impossible to apply the two-state solution according to international legitimacy." He added that despite this, the Palestinian Authority is committed to peaceful means.
According to a statement published by the Palestinian news agency, he reiterated their readiness to work at this stage to create an atmosphere by implementing confidence-building measures that include achieving comprehensive calm across the Palestinian territories, adhering to signed agreements, and refraining from any unilateral actions.
After Abbas met with Gantz, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett quickly downplayed the likelihood of any steps toward peace negotiations, despite Israel agreeing to lend the Palestinian Authority 150 million dollars. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also expressed skepticism on Wednesday about the prospects for a two-state solution, stating that such a step would destabilize Bennett's ruling coalition.
