The State Department's top official on Israeli-Palestinian Arab issues, Hady Amr, will travel to Jerusalem on Sunday for talks with the new Israeli government and PA officials, Barak Ravid of Axios reported on Friday.
This will be the first visit by a senior US official since the formation of the new Israeli government and also comes as the Palestinian Authority is going through a deep domestic political crisis over the killing of political activist Nizar Banat by security forces.
During the weeklong visit, Israeli officials told Ravid, Amr is expected to meet officials from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Defense.
In Ramallah, he is expected to meet PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other government officials.
One reason for the trip, Israeli officials say, is to allow Amr to discuss the new Israeli government's policies on Judea and Samaria and Gaza.
Specifically, he is expected to raise the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the new UN mechanism to transfer money to Gaza while circumventing Hamas.
Qatar has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to pay for electricity in the Strip, build new roads and hospitals, help Hamas cover the salaries of its civil servants and provide monthly stipends to poor families.
However, following the recent conflict, Israel decided to reevaluate the way in which the Qatari money enters Gaza in order to ensure that the funds go to the needy population of the Strip and not into the hands of Hamas.
To that end, the United Nations has agreed to take on the responsibility of distributing the Qatari monetary aid to families in the Gaza Strip.
According to Ravid’s report, Israeli officials also expect Amr to raise the Israeli military's demolitions of homes of terrorists.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had raised the issue with a senior Israeli official following the demolition of the home of the terrorist who murdered Yehuda Guetta in May.
In Ramallah, Amr is expected to discuss Banat's death and the ensuing crackdown by security forces on protesters, many of whom have been calling for Abbas to resign, according to Axios.
The State Department did not respond to questions about Amr’s trip.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)