Scoop: White House envoy met senior Palestinian official in Saudi Arabia
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President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met on Tuesday in Riyadh with a senior adviser to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.
Why it matters: This was the first meeting between a Trump administration official and a Palestinian official since November's election.
- The meeting between Witkoff and Hussein al-Sheikh took place amid efforts by the Trump administration to end the war in Gaza and push for a Saudi-Israeli peace deal that includes a path toward a Palestinian state.
Behind the scenes: The sources said the meeting was the result of several weeks of back-channel talks between Trump administration officials and Palestinian leadership.
- According to one source, Saudi Arabia helped broker the meeting, which took place in its capital.
- The White House, the Saudi embassy in Washington and al-Sheikh declined to comment.
The big picture: Relations between the U.S. and the Palestinian Authority were mostly frozen during the first Trump presidency because of his decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
- During the 2024 campaign, the Palestinian president sought to reconcile with Trump and sent him a letter of support after his first assassination attempt. Trump's response was positive.
- Several days after Trump won the election, he spoke on the phone with Abbas. Palestinian officials said the call was very positive, and that Trump reiterated his aspiration to broker peace in the Middle East as part of a broader deal with Saudi Arabia.
State of play: Witkoff travelled to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a U.S. official said.
- On Wednesday, Witkoff will visit Israel and meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.
- He is also expected to visit the Gaza strip — the first such visit by a U.S. government official in almost 20 years.
