U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuttled Tuesday between Israel and the West Bank, imploring both sides to defuse recent violence and work toward the long-held but elusive U.S. goal of creating a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah after earlier meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, whom he assured that the U.S. commitment to Israel\u2019s security \u201cremains ironclad.\u201d Blinken promised $50 million in new economic assistance to Palestinians over the next two years, on top of $890 million already pledged, and 4G high-speed telecom service in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Blinken\u2019s talks came after some of the worst viole nce in several years, in which 35 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops and seven civilians were shot dead by a Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem outside a synagogue last Friday.<\/p>\n
Blinken told Abbas that he appreciates \u201cyour consistent and resolute stance against terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his remarks, Abbas said Palestinians \u201caffirm that the Israeli government is responsible for what\u2019s happening these days because of its practices that undermine the two-state solution and already signed agreements.\u201d The Palestinian leader called on the United States and the international community to \u201cprovide international protection to our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid rising anger at near-daily raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Abbas’ Palestinian Authority last week scaled back its security cooperation agreement with Israel after the largest incursion in years.<\/p>\n
The operation saw Israeli forces go deep into a refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin, setting off a gunfight in which 10 Palestinians were killed.<\/p>\n
Back in Jerusalem after meeting with Abbas, Blinken said the U.S. had \u201cno illusion\u201d about immediate peace.<\/p>\n
He said the warring Israelis and Palestinians must remain \u201cfocused on de-escalating violence\u201d to defuse tensions, to make sure neither side \u201cadds fuel to the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFundamentally, it\u2019s up to them, that they have to work together to foster a greater sense of security,\u201d Blinken said.<\/p>\n
Blinken said Monday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States remains committed to \u201cPalestinians and Israelis enjoying equal measures of freedom, security, opportunity, justice, and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure that there\u2019s an environment in which we can, I hope, at some point create the conditions where we can start to restore a sense of security for Israelis and Palestinians alike, which of course is sorely lacking,\u201d Blinken said.<\/p>\n
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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