Occupied Jerusalem: As Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas prepares for his first meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, the Arab leader and his advisers are expressing a kind of optimism not heard in years.

The Palestinians are saying they think Trump might be the one — with the right mix of bombast and unpredictability — to restart peace negotiations with Israel with the aim of securing Palestinian borders, a capital and a state.

It is an unusual moment because hope is not in abundant supply in the Middle East these days.

Abbas told Japanese reporters last month that he is prepared to hold a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington “under the patronage of President Trump.”

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said: “I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians. There is no reason there’s not peace between Israel and the Palestinians — none whatsoever.”

Trump sent former real estate attorney-turned-Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, to occupied Jerusalem and Ramallah in March to explore the possibilities. Greenblatt got good marks from both sides. Trump also named his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as his point man for making peace in the Middle East.

In March, Trump met with Netanyahu at the White House, where administration officials pushed for constraint on the expansion of Jewish colonies in the West Bank, on land the Palestinians want for a future state. Those talks ended with no firm agreement. There are about 400,000 Jewish colonists living the occupied West Bank.

By the end of the Obama administration, Palestinian leaders had moved away from seeing Washington as the key to a peace deal, emphasising instead their campaign to “internationalise” the Palestinian quest for statehood, through UN resolutions and a symbolic gathering of world diplomats in Paris.

Trump has spoken with Abbas on the telephone. The meeting Wednesday will be their first face-to-face.

Abbas, 82, is not known for his oratory or sparkle, in public or private. He is often guarded and does not hold news conferences or tweet. He is unpopular among his own people, who question his legitimacy. Palestinian elections are years overdue.

But Abbas and his circle want to hear what Trump has to say. “We are glad that now the US administration listens about us from us, and not from third parties,” Abbas told the Japanese daily.

Jibril Rajoub, a top Palestinian official and a leader of the dominant Fatah political party, told The Washington Post on Monday: “We are very optimistic. I was in the States recently, and I was told this conflict is a priority issue for President Trump and he is serious to engage and have the ultimate deal.”

Rajoub added: “From our side we will cooperate with President Trump. We believe that he is not in the pocket of anyone, except the American people.” Trump’s “America first” policy extends to national security, “which means settling the core of the conflict in the Middle East,” he said.

The new chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Hussam Zomlot, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz last week: “When you have a president who from Day One commits himself to peace, and invests time and effort in reaching a solution, that’s the definition of a historic opportunity.”

“President Trump has the political capital, the relationships with all the parties involved, and the will to actually achieve this goal,” Zomlot said.

Since taking office, Trump has met with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and Israel’s Netanyahu.

Some administration officials have pressed for a regionwide push to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a grand bargain that would give the Palestinians a clear road to statehood in exchange for the moderate Arab states’ public recognition of Israel.

If Trump asks Abbas if he speaks for the Palestinians in Gaza, his answer might be a muddle.

Abbas has been fighting with rival Hamas over payments to government workers in Gaza, security arrangements, taxes and who should pay to keep the lights on in the economically crippled enclave.

This week, Hamas issued a policy document, a kind of addendum of its hard-line anti-Jewish founding charter. The new document states for the first time an apparent acceptance of an interim Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders, without recognising Israel. Some see a softening of Hamas positions, to stay relevant.

But aside from the upbeat statements from Palestinian leaders, most Palestinians tell pollsters that they have low expectations for any change. Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank turns 50 years old in June, and Trump has called a possible Palestinian-Israeli accord “the toughest deal in the world.”