‘Lots of hard work ahead’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday vowed to rebuild US relations with Palestinians by reopening a consulate in Jerusalem and giving millions in aid to help the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
"Ultimately, there's a possibility of resuming the effort to achieve a two-state solution, which we continue to believe is the only way to truly assure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state, and of course to give the Palestinians the state they're entitled to," he said after meeting Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, .
"There's lots of hard work ahead to restore hope, respect and some trust across the communities," Blinken said earlier.
The announcements signalled a clean break with US policy under former president Donald Trump who had shuttered the diplomatic mission for Palestinians in 2019 and slashed aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Blinken's visit, part of a wider Mideast tour, comes after Friday's truce ended 11 days of heavy Israeli bombing of Gaza and rocket fire out of the enclave on Israel, as tensions simmer in annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
The top diplomat of US reiterated support for Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks by the Islamist group Hamas, which he said must not benefit from the aid effort.
Blinken is on a tour that will next take him to Egypt and Jordan.
He promised financial aid to Palestinians and emergency assistance to help rebuild the impoverished Gaza Strip, as well as efforts to shore up the ceasefire between Israel and the enclave's rulers Hamas.
"The United States will notify Congress of our intention to provide $75 million in additional development and economic assistance to the Palestinians in 2021," he said. That was to come on top of $5.5 million dollars in immediate disaster assistance for Gaza and about $32 million for an emergency humanitarian appeal by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Hours before Blinken's arrival, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man during an arrest raid on the Amara refugee camp near Ramallah in the West Bank. In Jerusalem, an attacker Monday stabbed two young Israeli men including a soldier before police shot him dead.
Israeli police said late Sunday they had arrested 1,550 suspects over the past two weeks in connection with the "violent events".
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