Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Thursday for talks on reviving a two-state solution to the conflict, a statement said.
It marked one of the highest-level meetings with an American official in recent years for the 86-year-old Palestinian president.
Abbas welcomed Pelosi and the accompanying delegation at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah to discuss the latest developments in Palestine.
The president urged U.S. action on what he described as "unilateral Israeli practices" that "undermine a two-state solution."
Those included expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and moves to evict Palestinians from various parts of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.
Abbas affirmed "the importance of ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine, halting all illegal Israeli settlement activities, curbing settler violence, respecting the status quo in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and putting an end to Israel’s expulsion of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem," the news agency WAFA reported.
For her part, Pelosi affirmed her commitment to making peace on the basis of the two-state solution, and the need for all parties to cooperate jointly to move forward in achieving security, stability and peace in the region.
The visit came at a time of heightened tensions following clashes between Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the flashpoint Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians seek statehood in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territory Israel invaded in a 1967 war. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally, and peace talks between the two sides broke down in 2014.
Relations between the U.S. and the Palestinian Authority (PA) effectively collapsed during former president Donald Trump’s administration, notably after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s "undivided capital."
There have been a series of U.S. outreaches to Abbas and the PA since President Joe Biden took office last year.
Palestinian opinion polls show that support for Abbas and the PA are at historic lows, especially after the president scrapped plans to hold elections last year.
Pelosi, who was leading a delegation of eight Democratic party lawmakers to the region, earlier on Thursday met top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Bennett thanked her for her "ongoing support for Israel."
In talks with Israeli officials, Pelosi and the U.S. delegation affirmed "America’s ironclad commitment to the State of Israel," the speaker’s office said in a statement.
"We repeatedly reaffirmed America’s commitment to a just and enduring two-state solution that enhances stability and security for Israel, Palestinians and their neighbors."