Abbas receives letter from Omani sultan following Netanyahu visit

Abbas receives letter from Omani sultan following Netanyahu visit
Mahmoud Abbas recieved a letter from Oman's Sultan Qaboos regarding Netanyahu's visit to Muscat last week.
2 min read
31 October, 2018
Mahmoud Abbas' presidency expired in 2009 [Getty]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose presidency expired in 2009, received a letter from Oman leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said on Wednesday regarding his hosting of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week.

The letter was delivered to Abbas by Muscat Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi, according to Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa.

Ramallah had not disclosed further details of the letter.

Last week Muscat caused outrage among Palestinians after Qaboos received Netanyahu on his first official visit to the Oman.

At the time Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Netanyahu, who is currently facing a graft probe that could unseat him from power, had been invited by Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said after lengthy communications.

Israel and Oman do not have diplomatic relations. The meeting was the first of its kind between leaders of the two countries since 1996.

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The two leaders issued a joint statement saying the two sides "discussed ways to advance the Middle East peace process and discussed a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East".

Hamas, the Palestinian group which runs Gaza, lambasted Oman for allowing Netanyahu to visit, saying it accelerated "normalisation with the Israeli entity" and was a "stab in the back" for Palestinians.

Senior Fatah official Munir al-Jaghoob condemned the "gratuitous normalisation with the occupation" while Palestinian land is still under occupation.