Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia November 23, 2021. Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov/Kremlin via REUTERS

i24 News – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia’s leadership on Sunday after the royalty backed the Palestinian cause during their summit with the US president.

Abbas sent a message to King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian Authority president thanked the Saudis for vocally backing a two-state solution during Friday’s Jeddah summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Abbas thanked them for “their support for the national rights of our people and their just cause, emphasizing the end of the Israeli occupation of our land and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” according to the report.

After US President Joe Biden met with both the king and the crown prince, a joint statement was released where both sides backed the idea of a two-state solution.

“The leaders noted their determination to remain closely coordinated on efforts to encourage the parties to demonstrate — through policies and actions — their commitment to a two-state solution,” the communique stated.

Biden met with Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem after spending a day and a half in Israel.

The US president gave his backing for a Palestinian state during the press conference but refrained from recognizing east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.