Trump told Abbas he’ll be able to reach a deal within a year, says Palestinian minister

MUSCAT, Oman — The Palestinians are taking seriously Donald Trump’s efforts to help resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a minister said Thursday, ahead of the US president’s visit to the region next week.

Foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki was speaking in Muscat where he was accompanying Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as part of a regional tour prior to the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh on Sunday.

“Abu Mazen stressed Trump’s seriousness in settling the Palestinian issue” after they met in Washington this month, said the minister, referring to Abbas by his Arabic nickname.

“The US president assured him he will be able to find a settlement within one year,” he added.

Trump hosted Abbas at the White House on May 3, pledging to help end the decades-old conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. (AFP/Miguel Medina)

“It is something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years,” the US president said at the time.

Trump’s visit to Bethlehem in the West Bank on Tuesday is expected to last a few hours.

It will be part of his first trip abroad since his inauguration in January.

The tour, which begins on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, will take him to Israel and then to the Vatican.