RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority leadership hopes Barack Obama will lessen his bias toward Israel in his second term as US president, a senior official said Wednesday.

Hussain al-Araj, President Mahmoud Abbas' chief of staff, said re-elected American presidents had historically paid more attention to Israel's occupation of Palestine during their second terms, and displayed less bias to Israel.

The Palestinian leadership hopes Obama will treat Israelis and Palestinians equally in his second term and exert more effort to reaching a just solution to the conflict.

"We as Palestinians believe in peace and we have a really strong democratic experiment that must be respected as well as the abilities and the efforts of Palestinians," al-Araj told Ma'an.

The chief of staff added that the PLO was determined to seek an upgrade to its status at the UN General Assembly.