Trump and Abbas have not spoken since 2017, after the President-elect moved the US embassy to Jerusalem [Getty/file photo]
US President-elect Donald Trump said he will “work to stop” the ongoing war in Gaza in a phone call on Friday with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, according to a statement from his office.
Trump reportedly expressed his “willingness to work with President Abbas as well as other regional and global stakeholders, in efforts to achieve peace in the region,” the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, citing the Palestinian presidency.
Abbas then spoke to Trump of his “readiness to work to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on international legitimacy”.
The Palestinian leader had initially called Trump to congratulate him on his recent victory at the US Presidential election, where the Republican candidate defeated Kamala Harris earlier this week, securing at least 301 electoral votes.
He reportedly wished him “success and good luck in leading the United States of America towards progress and prosperity”.
The call between Abbas and Trump is the first since 2017, during which the controversial Republican, known for his unorthodox style of leadership, served his first term as US President.
Abbas no longer engaged with Trump after he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the city which Palestinians envision as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Abbas went on to criticise Trump several times for the move.
During his tenure between 2017 and 2021, Trump had enacted other pro-Israel policies, much to the anger of Palestinians in the region and in the diaspora.
He also brokered the Abraham Accords, which saw four Arab countries normalise diplomatic relations with Israel, while funding to the Palestinian UN agency for refugees, UNRWA, was slashed during his term.
In July this year, Abbas sent a letter to Trump expressing his “grave concern” following an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump thanked Abbas, and said he was “looking forward to achieving peace in the Middle East”.
Trump’s upcoming return to the White House comes at a time when the Middle East is witnessing increased turmoil, with Israel’s wars in both Gaza and Lebanon continuing to rage.
At least 43,508 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its brutal military onslaught on the Palestinian territory in October last year, triggering a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah also began carrying out cross-border fire soon after, before Tel Aviv dramatically escalated its attack on the country in September, frequently striking the south, the eastern Beqaa Valley and several Beirut suburbs.
At least 3,117 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli forces since.
Trump has called for the end of the war in Gaza on a number of occasions over the past year, however also took shot at President Joe Biden for allegedly not allowing Israel to “finish the job”.
The Republican is widely believed to have been Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s preferred choice of partner in Washington.
