President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas had a phone conversation with Donald Trump, the winner of the recent US elections. In the phone conversation, he expressed his willingness to work to end the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Trump pledged he would "work to end the war" and take steps to de-escalate tensions in the region, the Palestinian Authority said in a statement.

The Times of Israel reported this in a report on Saturday (November 9).

The conversation, which took place amid rising violence and calls for international intervention, marked a significant moment given Trump's previous stance on Middle East peace during his time in office.

The statement, however, did not elaborate further on the specifics of Trump's plan. And it is not yet clear what steps he intends to take to end the war.

During his last administration, Trump made controversial policies including the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Speculation is rife about how Trump will end the war in Gaza by stopping Israel.

Incidentally, since 2005, Abbas has been serving as the president of Palestine. He heads the political party Fatah. Basically there is a bitter rivalry between Hamas and Fatah parties.

After the second and most violent intifada in 2005, Israel withdrew its troops and about 7,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip. A year later, Hamas won a landslide victory in the Palestinian elections. A violent power struggle followed in 2007 between Hamas and the Fatah party in Palestine.

At that time Fatah party was led by President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas won in Gaza and remains in power until now. In between, the Gaza Strip has seen three wars and a 16-year siege.