Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, met on Wednesday with Mahmoud Abbas, the chief of the Palestinian Authority, to debate Israel’s battle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza and the function that the authority would possibly play there when the battle ebbs.
Mr. Blinken traveled in a convoy from Tel Aviv in Israel to Ramallah, the seat of the authority, within the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution. The 2 males shook palms exterior the authority’s headquarters and sat down for talks with their aides.
The Biden administration has mentioned it envisions a task for the Palestinian Authority in governing each the West Financial institution and Gaza. Hamas has run Gaza because it gained elections within the tiny coastal strip in 2006 and violently drove out Fatah, the group now in control of the authority within the West Financial institution.
President Biden has additionally mentioned Israel should enable for the formation of a Palestinian state, arguing {that a} political resolution is the one approach out of the decades-old battle between Israelis and Palestinians. Mr. Blinken reiterated that view in a information convention in Tel Aviv on Tuesday after conferences with Israeli officers. He additionally mentioned Saudi Arabia — whose ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he met with on Monday — was nonetheless prepared to contemplate establishing regular diplomatic relations with Israel, however provided that Israel agreed to concrete steps towards the institution of a free and impartial Palestine.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, and his right-wing authorities have rejected the notion of a Palestinian state, and Mr. Netanyahu mentioned years in the past that Israeli officers ought to help a powerful Hamas in Gaza in an effort to undermine the Palestinian Authority and the concept of a unified Palestine. He has additionally rejected any substantial function for the authority in Gaza.
After assembly with Mr. Abbas, Mr. Blinken deliberate to fly to Bahrain for extra talks on the battle. The Bahrain cease was a last-minute addition to his multiday diplomatic mission throughout the japanese Mediterranean and the Center East that started final Friday. Mr. Blinken plans to satisfy in Cairo later within the journey with the president of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Mr. el-Sisi and Mr. Abbas are anticipated to be in Aqaba, Jordan, afterward Wednesday for a disaster management summit referred to as by King Abdullah II.
