U.S., Palestinian officials engage publicly for 1st time in 3 years

Palestinian flag in front of White House.
(Image credit: MARI MATSURI/AFP via Getty Images)

Last week, the Biden administration announced it was restoring relations with Palestine after the Trump administration slashed financial assistance for Palestinians, effectively shut down their diplomatic mission to the United States, and recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. And on Monday, officials from both sides publicly engaged for the first time in three years when the Palestinian Authority's Minister for Civilian Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh spoke over the phone with Hady Amr, the Biden administration's assistant secretary of state for Israel-Palestine.

It sounds like the call mostly covered the basics involved with re-establishing the relationship, but it appears to have been well-received.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.