The US president Donald Trump on Thursday warned Palestinians that the US could pull aid if, he said, they did not 'negotiate peace' with Israel.
“When they disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see them, and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support, tremendous numbers, numbers that nobody understands - that money is on the table and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace,” he added.
The Palestinian president remaind defiant however, stating that the US could no longer have a role in the negotiations.
“Palestinian rights are not up to any bargain and Jerusalem is not for sale. The United States can’t have any role unless it retreats its decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” Mr Mahmoud Abbas' spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah was quoted by Reuters as saying.