PLO leader Azzam al-Ahmed (center)
PLO leader Azzam al-Ahmed (center)Flash 90

The Palestinian Authority is opposed to a return to peace negotiations with Israel under the leadership of the United States, senior PA official Azzam al-Ahmed said Thursday, according to JPost.

“The Palestinians will not accept a situation where the US alone is in charge of the peace process in the Middle East,” Ahmed was quoted as having said in an interview on Palestine TV.

He added that the Palestinian Arabs insist that any future peace talks with Israel be held on the basis of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ initiative for convening an international peace conference with the participation of various parties, including the Quartet (the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations), Jordan, Egypt, South Africa and China.

“We will not agree under any circumstances to a policy of managing the conflict,” Ahmed stressed.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly pushed for an international conference for peace in the Middle East, aimed at bypassing the US efforts to resume talks.

In September of 2020, the PA said it began preliminary diplomatic steps to hold an international conference.

The PA had a tense relationship with the Trump administration and had been boycotting the US since 2017, in protest of Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the US embassy in Israel to the city.

However, since taking office, the Biden administration has renewed ties with the PA and had been crafting a plan aimed at “resetting” US ties with the PA.

In one move, the Biden administration announced it intends to resume aid to UNRWA as well as other aid to the PA which was suspended by the Trump administration.