Blinken seeks Palestinian governance reform for post-war Gaza as deadly Israeli strikes continue
The Hindu
On his fourth visit to the region since the war began three months ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met in recent days with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkiye. He says they are open to contributing to post-war plans in return for progress on creating a Palestinian state.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on January 10 to seek governance reforms as part of U.S. efforts to rally the region behind post-war plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.
Mr. Blinken says he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding and governing Gaza after Israel's war against Hamas, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalization is still possible, but only if there is "a pathway to a Palestinian state."
The approach faces serious obstacles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the autocratic, Western-backed Palestinian leadership, whose forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007, lacks legitimacy in the view of many Palestinians.
The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight, fuelling a humanitarian catastrophe in the tiny coastal enclave. The fighting has also stoked escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants that has raised fears of a wider conflict.
On his fourth visit to the region since the war began three months ago, Mr. Blinken has met in recent days with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkiye. He says they are open to contributing to post-war plans in return for progress on creating a Palestinian state.
Also Read | Blinken urges Israel to engage with region on postwar plans that include path to Palestinian state
The Saudi Ambassador to the U.K. went even further on January 9, telling the BBC that the kingdom is still interested in a landmark normalization agreement with Israel, but that it must include “nothing less than an independent state of Palestine.”
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