Oman to Open Embassy in West Bank, its Foreign Ministry Says

Oman will open an embassy in the Palestinian Territories in support of the Palestinian people, its Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, in a first for a Gulf state. “Continuing Oman’s support for the Palestinian people, the Sultanate of Oman has decided to open a diplomatic mission at the level of embassy in the State of Palestine,” the ministry said on Twitter. The announcement coincided with the second day of the US-led economic workshop in Bahrain to unveil the financial portion of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Muscat sent no official representatives. Oman was the first Gulf state to host an Israeli prime minister, with Binyamin Netanyahu visiting in October 2018. A week later, Oman’s state minister for foreign affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, held talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Muscat has a history of mediating regional disputes, such as US-Iranian tensions and the conflict in Yemen.