From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 1, 2024
Blinken speaks to Abbas, welcomes formation of new PA cabinet
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas earlier today to welcome the formation of a new PA cabinet.
“Blinken reiterated that the United States looks forward to working with the new PA cabinet to promote peace, security, and prosperity and urged the implementation of necessary reforms,” according to a US readout of the call. “Blinken emphasized that a revitalized PA is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza.”
The secretary also “stressed that the United States will press [Israel] to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, bring in more aid and work for a political solution [to the conflict] that leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state in cooperation with [the PA] and the Arab states,” adds a readout from Abbas’s office.
For his part, the PA president raised his concerns about a potential IDF offensive in Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering, his office said.
Abbas also urged the US to intervene in light of recent Israeli moves aimed at further entrenching settler presence in the West Bank.
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