US wants Abbas to take over Gaza
Washington is insisting that Mahmoud Abbas should take firm control of Gaza, a territory under the hands of Hamas since 2007, reports Al Jazeera.
On November 5 US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas, a critic of Palestinian militants Hamas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the defacto capital of the country.
Understandably, most of the focus is on the besieged Gaza Strip as around 10,000 inhabitants have been slaughtered by a trigger-happy Israeli state since the beginning of October however, over 120 Palestinians living in the West Bank have lost their lives since Hamas’ assault on Israel.
During the meeting between the two officials, Blinken told the octogenarian that he thinks that the PNA should, “should play a central role in what comes next in Gaza,”.
READ: Blinken backed into a corner over ceasefire stance
The pair held a meeting for approximately an hour however they did not face the press.
Blinken refused to back a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group after been pushed on the issue during talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
Despite huge support for it around the planet, Secretary Blinken claimed that a cessation of hostilities in the region would only benefit Hamas.
Abbas also told Blinken that there must be a ceasefire in the region.
Following the meeting the US official wrote on X (formerly Twitter) “Met with President Abbas and affirmed our commitment to delivery of humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services in Gaza. Made clear that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must end and reiterated our support for a two state solution.”.
Al Jazeera
