Trump tells Abbas to stop incitement, pensions to terrorists’ kin

After hosting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for lunch at the White House, US President Donald Trump Wednesday called on his guest to end incitement against Israel by “media outlets directly associated with the Palestinian Authority. He also raised concerns about payments to Palestinians in prison for acts of terror and their families. This was reported after the meeting by White House press officer Sean Spicer. The President said that no foreign power could impose peace on the Palestinians and Israel, but he was committed to an effort to bring them together for an agreement.

The two-state solution was not mentioned by the president, according to the readout. Abbas did however double down on his insistence on a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries with its capital in Jerusalem. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri commented that the Palestinian Authority Chairman’s statement “was not binding on anyone.”