Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday about reforming the Palestinian self-rule government, as part of U.S. efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state. Blinken says he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding and governing Gaza after Israel’s war against Hamas, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalization is still possible, but only if there is “a pathway to a Palestinian state.”
Quick Read
- Blinken’s Conversation with Abbas: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about reforming the Palestinian government, aligning with U.S. efforts to support Gaza postwar plans and steps toward a Palestinian state.
- Commitments for Gaza’s Rebuilding: Blinken has secured commitments from multiple countries to assist in Gaza’s rebuilding and governance post-Israel-Hamas war, with a focus on progressing towards a Palestinian state.
- Blinken’s Meeting with Abbas: In Ramallah, Blinken expressed U.S. support for “tangible steps” towards a Palestinian state and discussed administrative reform with Abbas, as reported by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
- Challenges to Blinken’s Vision: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu opposes a Palestinian state, and the Palestinian leadership, ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, is seen as illegitimate by many Palestinians.
- Continued Gaza War and Regional Violence: The ongoing war in Gaza and escalating violence with Hezbollah in Lebanon heighten fears of a broader conflict.
- Blinken’s Regional Diplomatic Efforts: On his fourth visit to the region, Blinken met with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, and Turkey, discussing contributions to postwar plans contingent on Palestinian state progress.
- Saudi Arabia’s Stance: Saudi Ambassador to the U.K. emphasized that any normalization with Israel must include an independent Palestinian state.
- Blinken’s Message to Israel: In meetings with Israeli officials, Blinken urged Israel to stop actions that undermine Palestinian self-governance and called for Palestinian Authority reforms.
- Palestinian Authority’s Challenges: Governed under interim peace deals, the Palestinian Authority faces limitations in preventing settlement expansions and has not engaged in substantive peace talks since Netanyahu’s 2009 office return.
- U.S. Struggles with Israeli Concessions: The Biden administration has yet to secure significant Israeli concessions, like releasing tax revenues to Palestinians or reopening a U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem.
- Abbas’ Meetings with Jordan and Egypt: Abbas planned to meet leaders of Jordan and Egypt in Aqaba to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Israel’s Continued Offensive in Gaza: Israel aims to crush Hamas and has maintained a siege, leading to widespread displacement and starvation in Gaza.
- Blinken’s Call for Aid Access: Blinken urged Israel to facilitate more effective aid distribution in Gaza.
- Destruction in Northern Gaza and Resettlement Concerns: Heavy destruction in Gaza raises questions about the possibility of residents returning, amid calls by some Israeli officials for their resettlement elsewhere.
- U.N. Inspection Mechanism Agreement: Blinken secured an agreement on a U.N. mechanism to evaluate resettlement in northern Gaza.
- Focus on Southern Gaza and Central Refugee Camps: Israel is concentrating military operations in Khan Younis and central Gaza refugee camps, resulting in high casualties.
- Recent Airstrike in Rafah: An airstrike in Rafah killed at least 14 people, including women and children.
- Gaza Casualty Update: The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reports over 23,000 Palestinian deaths and 59,000 injuries, predominantly civilians, since the war began.
- Details of Hamas’ Oct. 7 Attack: Hamas’ attack resulted in around 1,200 Israeli deaths and 250 abductions, with ongoing Israeli military operations and high militant fatalities.
The Associated Press has the story:
Blinken seeks Palestinian governance reform for postwar Gaza as deadly Israeli strikes continue
Newslooks- TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) —
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday about reforming the Palestinian self-rule government, as part of U.S. efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.
Blinken says he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding and governing Gaza after Israel’s war against Hamas, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalization is still possible, but only if there is “a pathway to a Palestinian state.”
In their meeting Wednesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Blinken told Abbas that the U.S. supports “tangible steps towards the creation of a Palestinian state,” according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. He said the two discussed administrative reform.
The vision outlined by Blinken faces serious obstacles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the autocratic, Western-backed Palestinian leadership, whose forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007, lacks legitimacy in the view of many Palestinians.
The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight, fueling a humanitarian catastrophe in the tiny coastal enclave. The fighting has also stoked escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants that has raised fears of a wider conflict.
BLINKEN PRESSURES BOTH SIDES ON WHIRLWIND TRIP
On his fourth visit to the region since the war began three months ago, Blinken has met in recent days with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. He says they are open to contributing to postwar plans in return for progress on creating a Palestinian state.
The Saudi Ambassador to the U.K. went even further on Tuesday, telling the BBC that the kingdom is still interested in a landmark normalization agreement with Israel, but that it must include “nothing less than an independent state of Palestine.”
“One doesn’t come without the other,” Prince Khalid bin Bandar said.
After meeting with Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials on Tuesday, Blinken delivered a stark message, saying Israel must stop undercutting the Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves with its expansion of settlements, home demolitions and evictions in the West Bank.
But he also said the Palestinian Authority “has a responsibility to reform itself, to improve its governance,” and that he would discuss that with the 88-year-old Abbas, who has not stood for elections since 2005 and lacks support among his own people.
The Palestinian Authority governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank under interim peace deals reached in the 1990s and cooperates with Israel on security matters. But it has been powerless to prevent the expansion of settlements in occupied territory it wants for a future state, and there have been no serious or substantive peace talks since Netanyahu returned to office in 2009.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been unable to get Israel to make even relatively minor concessions to the Palestinians, like turning over all the tax revenue it collects on their behalf, or allowing the reopening of a U.S. Consulate to serve Palestinians in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Later Wednesday, Abbas was set to met with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt, two U.S. allies who have long served as mediators in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Jordan’s Red Sea city of Aqaba.
WAR RAGES ON WITH NO END IN SIGHT
Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it crushes Hamas and returns scores of hostages held by the group after its Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Israeli officials say the campaign will continue through the rest of the year, and its own postwar plans call for open-ended military control over the territory, from which it withdrew soldiers and settlers in 2005.
Nearly 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes by the fighting, and a quarter of its residents face starvation, with only a trickle of food, water, medicine and other supplies entering through an Israeli siege.
Blinken said more food, water, medicine and other aid needs to enter and be distributed effectively, and he called on Israel to “do everything it can to remove any obstacles.”
The offensive has reduced much of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to a moonscape, raising concerns over whether the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled from those areas will ever be able to return. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government have called for them to be resettled elsewhere, which critics say would amount to ethnic cleansing.
Blinken said the U.S. was opposed to any such scenario and that resettlement is not the policy of the Israeli government. He also said he had secured agreement on a U.N. inspection mechanism in northern Gaza to evaluate how and when people can return.
HEAVY FIGHTING IN CENTER AND SOUTH
The military is now focusing major operations on the southern city of Khan Younis and built-up refugee camps in central Gaza that date back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent days in continuing strikes across the territory, including in areas of the far south where people have been told to seek refuge.
An airstrike late Tuesday hit a four-story house west of the southernmost city of Rafah, killing at least 14 people and wounding at least 20 others, including women and children, health officials said. Associated Press reporters saw the dead and wounded being brought into nearby hospitals.
Jaber Abu Hamed, who fled his home in Gaza City last month and is sheltering near the main hospital in Khan Younis, said he heard constant gunfire and explosions. “The ambulance sirens didn’t stop,” he said.
Since the war began, Israel’s offensive has killed 23,357 Palestinians and wounded more than 59,000, according to an update Wednesday from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. About two-thirds of the dead are women and children, health officials say. The death toll does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
In the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas overwhelmed Israel’s defenses and stormed through several communities, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mainly civilians. They abducted around 250 others, nearly half of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames the high toll on Hamas because the militants fight in densely populated areas. It says it has killed some 8,000 militants — without providing evidence — and that 186 of its own soldiers have been killed in the offensive.
