Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday received Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi who delivered a letter from His Majesty King Abdullah to Abbas.

The letter focused on joint efforts to resume "serious” negotiations that can lead to realising a just peace according to the two-state solution that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Abbas conveyed his greetings to His Majesty, voicing Palestinians’ appreciation of the Kingdom’s unaltered stances in supporting them and exerting all efforts to meet Palestinians’ legitimate rights.

Safadi highlighted the importance of the Palestinian leadership’s decision to hold elections and King Abdullah’s directives to offer any support to Palestinians in the organisation of the elections.

During joint press remarks with the head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian Authority and member of the Central Committee of Fateh, Minister Hussein Al Sheikh, Safadi said that the meeting was a continuation of communication and coordination between His Majesty and President Abbas.

Safadi said that King Abdullah wanted this letter to be delivered to President Abbas now in light of distinct regional and international circumstances, mainly a new US administration that showed positive indicators, which require  "a positive reaction on our part” to push forward towards resuming negotiations. 

Along with efforts to realise political grounds, he said work is also ongoing to initiate an international effort to halt unilateral Israeli procedures that undermine the prospects of the two-state solution, mainly building and expanding colonies, confiscating houses, and deporting population from their houses as happens in Hay Al Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

In this regard, the minister said that the Kingdom is exerting intensified efforts in coordination with Palestinians and the international community to preserve the rights of Sheikh residents to stay in their houses and Jordan had offered all available documents to help Palestinians protect their full rights.

Safadi also said that Jordan considers elections an important and necessary step, stressing that the Kingdom expressed its readiness to cooperate to overcome all obstacles facing these elections.

The deputy prime minister said that "Jerusalem is a red line” for King Abdullah and for the entire Kingdom as it is for the Palestinian state and people and President Abbas, voicing the Kingdom’s rejection of all attempts to alter the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem.

For his part, Sheikh stressed that the letter delivered by Safadi highlighted the deep-rooted relations and coordination between the Kingdom and Palestine, noting that the letter also went over the latest political developments in the region and Jordanian-Palestinian ties.