BICOM

The Omani Foreign Minister, Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, met with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday and delivered a letter from Sultan Qaboos bin Said about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Oman.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that bin Alawi handed Abbas the Sultan’s letter but provided no further details on their discussions. Abbas travelled to Oman days before Netanyahu to discuss “the latest developments related to the Palestinian issue”.

Netanyahu visited Oman last Friday and met Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, the first time since 1996 that an Israeli Prime Minister has visited the country. He was joined on the visit by the head of Mossad. The two leaders “discussed ways to advance the Middle East peace process and discussed a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East,” according to a joint statement. President Abbas has boycotted any attempts by the US to renew talks between Israelis and the Palestinians after President Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel capital and moved the US embassy there.

An Omani official later told a conference: “We should consider giving equal treatment to Israel among the other countries in the Middle East. Jews are part of history that touches Islam and the existence of the State of Israel is a fact that should not be ignored.”

Netanyahu’s visit to Oman was one of several visits made last week by Israeli officials to strengthen Israel’s economic and diplomatic ties with Gulf countries. Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev visited the UAE’s Sheikh Zayed mosque and witnessed the Israeli judo team win gold in a competition in Abu Dhabi, whilst Israel’s Communications Minister, Ayoub Kara, spoke at an international conference in Dubai. Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz will be making an official visit in Oman next week for an international transportation convention.

Israel’s Channel 10 News reported last night that a senior Israeli delegation, led by an official from the Prime Minister’s office, visited Chad recently for talks about renewing diplomatic ties between the countries, which were cut 40 years ago.