The Palestinian president arrives in Ramallah on an unannounced visit and calls on the U.S. to immediately halt Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday after visiting Israel, Blinken held a meeting with the foreign ministers of Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as the secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, Hussein al-Sheikh, in the Jordanian capital Amman. At a press conference following the meeting, Blinken reiterated Washington’s opposition to the ceasefire, arguing that Hamas would benefit.
Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president, met with Blinken at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday and called on the U.S. to take action to immediately end the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip: “demanded an immediate cessation of the devastating war, and the acceleration of the provision of humanitarian aid, including medical, food, water, electricity, and fuel, to the Gaza Strip,” according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
He noted that what was happening in the West Bank and Jerusalem was equally horrific in terms of “murder and attacks on land, people and holy sites, at the hands of the occupation forces and terrorist settlers”.
We meet again in extremely difficult circumstances, and there are no words to describe the war of genocide and destruction to which our Palestinian people are being subjected to in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli war machine, without regard for the rules of international law.
Abbas placed all responsibility for what was happening on Israel, saying “Military solutions will not bring security to Israel.”
The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the state of Palestine, and we will bear our full responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution for both the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
“Security and peace are achieved by ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the state of Palestine, with its capital, East Jerusalem, on the 1967 borders,” Abbas added.
The death toll from Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip since 7 October stands at 9,770, including 4,800 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
