Blinken visits West Bank to meet Palestinian leader Abbas as Gaza war rages

By Simon Lewis

TEL AVIV, November 5 (Reuters) – Antony Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat, made an unexpected visit to the occupied West Bank on Sunday. He met with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, as part of his ongoing tour of the region amidst escalating tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas.

Blinken and Abbas convened in Ramallah, the de facto Palestinian capital in the West Bank. This marks Blinken’s second visit to the region since the surprise attack by Palestinian Hamas fighters on southern Israel on October 7. The attack resulted in the death of 1,400 people and the taking of over 240 hostages.

While Israel continues its air strikes, which health officials claim have claimed the lives of nearly 9,500 Palestinians, Secretary of State Blinken rejected calls for a ceasefire from Arab officials on Saturday. Previously, he had appealed to Israel for limited pauses in the fighting but had no success.

Aside from preventing the conflict from spreading in the region, Blinken also aims to kickstart discussions on the governance of Gaza. Israel’s objective is to completely eradicate Hamas. Blinken proposes that an “effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority” should assume control of the strip. However, he acknowledges that other countries and international organizations would likely play a role in security and governance in the interim period.

The popularity of Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, which currently holds limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has significantly declined due to allegations of corruption, incompetence, and unpopular security cooperation arrangements with Israel. It remains uncertain who will succeed the aging and ailing Abbas, who is 87 years old and a staunch opponent of Hamas.

After meeting with Blinken, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan emphasized the need for an immediate ceasefire to address the humanitarian crisis affecting Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. They also stated that it was premature to discuss the future of Gaza. Blinken argues that a ceasefire would only provide an opportunity for Hamas to regroup. Instead, he is pushing for location-specific pauses in the fighting to allow much-needed aid to be delivered within Gaza.

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This meeting between Blinken and Abbas is their second since the conflict began but the first to take place in the West Bank. The meeting was not announced in advance due to security concerns, with Reuters agreeing not to publish details until it was completed.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, already at its highest level in over 15 years, has further surged since the start of the war. The United Nations has recorded over 170 attacks on Palestinians involving Jewish settlers.

“This has been an escalating problem since the conflict began,” Blinken stated to reporters in Amman on Saturday. He also informed Israeli officials that those responsible for such violence must be held accountable.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Hugh Lawson)