Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas touched down in London on Sunday for a three-day visit at the invitation of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ramallah’s official Wafa news agency reported.
The visit will focus on efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of “hostages and detainees” and increasing humanitarian aid to the enclave, according to the report.
The discussions are also expected to address Ramallah’s demand that it be put in charge of Gaza after the war, proposals for rebuilding the Strip, as well as the situation in Judea and Samaria, the agency said.
Abbas will meet with Starmer to advance the P.A.'s “bilateral relations” with London and coordinate ahead of the U.K.'s expected decision to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Starmer’s government in late July announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly unless Jerusalem meets certain demands, including a truce in Gaza and a commitment to a two-state solution.
Abbas is also scheduled to meet with U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and other senior British officials during his three-day stay in London.
The P.A. chief is being accompanied by senior aides including Ziad Abu Amr, who heads the Palestine Liberation Organization’s international relations department and maintains good ties with Hamas, Majdi Al-Khaldi, his adviser, and Husam Zomlot, the P.A.'s envoy to the United Kingdom.
According to a May poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, only around 1 in 5 Palestinians are satisfied with Abbas and 81% want him to resign after 20-plus years into his four-year term.
As Abbas arrived in the British capital on Sunday, London police arrested 890 people during a demonstration organized by Defend Our Juries in support of Palestine Action, which the United Kingdom proscribed in July.
Of these, 857 people were detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 for showing support for a banned organization, while 33 others were arrested for separate offenses, including 17 for assaulting officers.
All those arrested for terrorism offenses are now under investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, which is working closely with prosecutors to expedite legal proceedings, per a police statement.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart, who oversaw the arrests, said the violence at the protest was “coordinated and carried out by a group of people, many wearing masks to conceal their identity.”
The United Kingdom proscribed Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 after activists targeted military assets, including breaking into an RAF base and vandalizing aircraft, and engaged in repeated acts of property damage against defense firms it said had links to the Jewish state.
