Palestinians snub US invitation

Palestinian officials have been invited to a US conference on the Middle East hosted by Poland next week, a senior US official said on Friday, but top Palestinian officials said they would not attend.

The senior administration official told reporters White House senior adviser Jared Kushner would discuss plans for peace between the Palestinians and Israelis at the event.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the United States to reverse its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and cuts in aid to the Palestinians, saying these had undermined efforts to reach a two-state solution to the longstanding conflict.

Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, "will discuss the administration's efforts to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians and also take questions from the audience," the official said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat quickly rejected the invitation, writing on Twitter: "Regarding statements that we have been invited, we can say that only today there was some contact from the Polish side.

"Our position remains clear: We are not going to attend this conference and reiterate that we have not mandated anyone to talk on behalf of Palestine."

In another tweet on Friday, Erekat said: "The U.S. administration dismissed itself from sponsoring the peace process because of its decisions that are contradictory to the international law."

The State Department has said more than 40 countries will attended the conference in Warsaw from Feb 12 to 14.