Meeting Abbas, US envoy conveys Biden’s support for two states, raps PA over prisoner payments

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield met today with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh and other senior officials in Ramallah as the Biden administration continues its efforts to restore ties with the Palestinians.

“Thomas-Greenfield conveyed the Biden administration’s strong support for a two-state solution and its belief that Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve equal measures of freedom, prosperity, security and dignity,” her office says, regurgitating a talking point it has used about the conflict dozens of times this year.

The ambassador highlights “ongoing US efforts to support Palestinian refugees through a more efficient UNRWA that respects humanitarian principles such as neutrality,” her office says after visiting a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Ramallah.

Thomas-Greenfield also met with Palestinian civil society leaders, her office says. They did not include any of the six human rights organizations blacklisted by Israel.

The envoy “also emphasized the importance of respecting human rights and avoiding actions that undermine the prospects of a two-state solution, such as settlement activity, evictions, incitement to violence and payments to individuals imprisoned for terrorism,” the US readout adds.