US Secre\u00adtary of State Antony Blinken shuttled from Israel to the Palestinians\u2019 West Bank on Tuesday, appealing for an end to resurgent violence and reaffirming Washington\u2019s backing for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.
\nBlinken is urging calm on both sides after last week\u2019s killing by a Palestinian gunman of seven people outside a Jerusalem synagogue and anger among Palestinians over actions by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the only way that we can create conditions in which people\u2019s sense of security will start to improve,\u201d he told a news conference in Jerusalem.
\nHe took that message into a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, warning all parties against any action that could threaten a two-state solution, with an independent Palest\u00adinian state alongside Israel.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been clear that this includes things like settlement expansion, the legalisation of outposts, demolitions and evictions, disruptions to the historic status of the holy sites, and of course incitement and acquiescence to violence.\u201d
\nHe said he had heard \u201cdeep concern\u201d about the current trajectory in both Israel and the West Bank but also constructive ideas and he had asked senior officials to remain behind to continue talking.
\nA senior State Department official said the officials staying would be Barbara Leaf, the top department official for the Middle East, and Hady Amr, US special representative for Palestinian affairs.
\nBlinken\u2019s first visit since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power this month at the head of one of the most right-wing governments in Israel\u2019s history comes at a time of extreme tension between the two sides.
\nHe said Palestinians were facing a \u201cshrinking horizon of hope\u201d that needed to change.
\nAmid rising anger at near-daily raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Abbas\u2019 Pales\u00adtinian Authority (PA) suspended its security cooperation agreement with Israel last week after the largest incursion in years. The operation saw Israeli forces penetrate deep into a refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin, setting off a gunfight in which 10 Palestinians died.
\n\u201cThe Israeli government is responsible for what is happening today, because of its practices that undermine the two-state solution and violate the signed agreements,\u201d Abbas said after his meeting with Blinken.
\nBloody January
\nIn January alone, 35 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops, in the bloodiest month since 2015, while officials say attacks on Palestinian property by Israeli settlers have also increased. The raids have been going on almost daily for months as Israeli forces have stepped up a crackdown on militant groups in the West Bank following a spate of deadly attacks by Palestinians in Israel last year.
\nBlinken also highlighted US assistance to the Palestinian economy, which is heavily dependent on foreign aid. He said the United States would provide an extra $50 million in funding through the United Nations and that agreement had been reached on providing high speed 4G telecoms services to Palestinians.
\nBefore meeting Abbas, Blinken visited Deir Dibwan, a town near Ramallah that is home to many Palestinian Am\u00ade\u00adr\u00adicans, and met civil society leaders and businesspeople. On Tuesday, Blinken met Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and discussed cooperation to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon as well the situation in the West Bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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