Prince William has voiced hope for lasting peace in the Middle East as he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank in the first official British royal visit to the Palestinian Territories.
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William, second in line to the throne, received a red-carpet welcome to the Muqata, the Palestinian government headquarters in the city of Ramallah, that included an honour guard and band.
"I'm very glad our two countries work so closely together and have had success stories with education and relief work in the past, so, long may that continue," William told Abbas at the start of their meeting on Wednesday.
"My sentiments are the same as yours in hoping that there is a lasting peace in the region."
On Tuesday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin publicly asked the prince to bring Abbas "a message of peace" and tell him it is time to find a way to "build confidence" between Israel and the Palestinians.
Rivlin's position is largely ceremonial and in remarks released to the media after his own meeting with William earlier that day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no such request.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014 and a divide has widened since US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December and moved the US Embassy to the city.
"The Palestinian side is committed to the peace process with the Israelis, so both states could live peacefully together within the borders of 1967," Abbas said in his public remarks at his meeting with William.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the two territories.
In 2005, Israeli troops and settlers pulled out of Gaza, now ruled by Hamas Islamists and where violence again flared overnight.
After meeting Abbas, William was scheduled to meet Palestinian youngsters.
Until now it had been British policy not to make an official royal visit to Israel and the occupied territories until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved.
Australian Associated Press
