Blinken meets Palestinian Prez, steps up Mideast diplomacy
RAMALLAH: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought his diplomatic push on the Israel-Hamas war to the occupied West Bank on Sunday, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Biden administration’s latest bid to ease civilian suffering in the Gaza Strip and begin to sketch out a post-conflict scenario for the territory.
On a stop not announced in advance, Blinken travelled to Ramallah in an armoured motorcade and under tight security just hours after Israeli planes struck a refugee camp in Gaza, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Despite the secrecy and the US State Department’s refusal to confirm the trip until after Blinken had left the West Bank, there were protests against the diplomat’s visit and US support for Israel as word of his arrival leaked.
Neither man spoke as they greeted each other in front of cameras and their meeting ended without any public comment.
A senior American official travelling with Blinken said he stressed the US commitment to pressing Israel to protect civilians in Gaza, increase humanitarian aid supplies and rein in and punish extremist Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Blinken also told Abbas that the US was pushing Israel to fully restore suspended tax remittance transfers to the Palestinian Authority. Those funds were partially unblocked last week, but the Palestinians want the whole amount.
In addition, Blinken said the US envisions the Palestinian Authority as “playing a central role” in any post-Hamas administration in Gaza, according to the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to detail private discussions.
Abbas, meantime, said the Palestinian Authority would only assume power in Gaza as part of a “comprehensive political solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the official WAFA news agency. Abbas condemned Israel’s bombardment of Gaza as a “genocidal war” and urged Blinken “to immediately stop them from committing such crimes”. He called for an immediate cession of the war, and the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the restoration of water and electricity in Gaza.
