RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Prince William has arrived in the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Duke of Cambridge was greeted on Wednesday by an honor guard before sitting down with the Palestinian leader.

The prince is the first member of the British royal family to pay an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Though the trip is being billed as non-political, the prince is meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visiting sites at the heart of the century-old conflict.

The Palestinians have been eager to welcome the prince, hoping his visit will give them a boost as they struggle with a Trump administration they consider biased in favor of Israel.

The Duke of Cambridge began the day earlier by strolling Tel Aviv’s trendy Rothschild Boulevard, named after the late 19th-century British-Jewish banker and philanthropist who contributed greatly to the Jewish community in the Holy Land. There he met Netta Barzilai, winner of this year’s Eurovision song contest, and had a cold drink at one of the boulevard’s famous kiosks.

He then attended a cultural event at a museum where he met young people engaged in youth activism.

For the 36-year-old William, this marks a high-profile visit that could burnish his international credentials.

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