Blinken discussed efforts to maintain calm in West Bank with Gantz, State Department says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz discussed efforts to “maintain calm and stability in the West Bank,” the State Department says in its readout of their meeting earlier today.

Blinken later said Israeli officials promised him today they would condemn settler violence, act to stop it and hold those accountable responsible.

Blinken and Gantz also discussed during their meeting efforts to secure the release of the some 240 hostages in Gaza, the US readout says.

“Blinken reaffirmed that the United States supports Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism consistent with international humanitarian law,” the State Department says, using a talking point it employed in its readouts for the secretary’s meetings with President Isaac Herzog and opposition chairman Yair Lapid.

In his meeting with Herzog, Blinken also discussed efforts to “augment the pace and volume of humanitarian assistance entering Gaza for distribution to Palestinian civilians and prevent the conflict from spreading.”

With both Gantz and Lapid, he stressed “that the United States remains committed to the furtherance of a two-state solution as the best way to achieve a just and durable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the State Department says.