Kushner meets Qatar ruler during a surprise visit

Jared Kushner, son-in-law and advisor to the US President Donald Trump, on Wednesday paid a surprise visit to Qatar, where he met the ruler of the Gulf country Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, reported EFE-EPA.

The visit is deemed as a final effort by the Trump Administration to solve the Gulf crisis, in which Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Egypt, have imposed a blockade on Qatar since 2017.

“The meeting reviewed the strategic bilateral cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States, as well as regional and international events, particularly the situation in the Middle East,” the Qatari state-run news agency reported.

The US has unsuccessfully tried to mediate the dispute and has urged those countries to end the conflict.

Kushner visited the Gulf in September, on board of the first commercial flight between Israel and UAE, after they signed a deal to establish diplomatic ties under the auspices of the White House

On 13 August, Israel and UAE announced the so-called Abraham Accords to normalize ties, with Bahrain and Sudan following in the footsteps of Abu Dhabi later on.

Back then, Kushner said that hopefully all the Arab countries normalize ties with Israel.

Before the Abraham Accords only Egypt and Jordan had had diplomatic ties with Israel.

Trump's son-in-law drew up his Administration's Middle East peace plan, which has been rejected by the Palestinians and criticized by the international community, because it de facto puts in question the creation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

The plan modified the reigning negotiating framework — the Oslo Accords (1993-95) — by opening the door to the partial annexation of the West Bank and relegating the Palestinian capital to the suburbs of Jerusalem, without the iconic Old City.