Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday to discuss the growing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The leaders who attended the meeting discussed how to manage the growing civilian toll in Gaza and their efforts to keep the war from spreading to the rest of the region. Blinken's visit marks the highest-level visit by a US official to the West Bank since Oct. 7.
Antony Blinken in Ramallah
The American official was seen shaking hands with Abbas as they sat down for their talks, flanked by their advisers, as they met for the third time in a month. Blinken's trip to the region was hidden from the public until it was over due to security concerns.
It also came amid discussion about the future of Gaza, where more than 9,700 people have already died in four weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Israeli leaders have pledged to destroy Gaza's Hamas rulers but have not offered a vision for who would administer the territory after their assault, as per the Washington Post.
Last month, the secretary of state told a Senate hearing that an "effective and revitalized" Palestinian Authority would be the best-placed entity to administer Gaza and eventually become responsible for its security.
After the meeting in Ramallah, Blinken traveled to Baghdad, saying that they were engaged in pursuing humanitarian pauses in Gaza. That was during his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to discuss the regional security situation. He noted that this could advance the prospect of getting the hostages freed.
The American official's trip to Baghdad was a measure of the efforts the Biden administration is working to contain the regional risks of the Middle Eastern war. The hours-long visit to Iraq was made partly due to an effort to demonstrate to Iran a robust US presence in the region.
A senior State Department official said that Blinken believed that there was a need to update Abbas on a lot of the work that the US has been doing in coordination with the government of Israel, according to CNN.
Israel-Hamas Conflict
They added that the secretary of state that the US pressed Israel to minimize civilian harm and gave Abbas an update on getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza as well as getting essential services restored.
Blinken had previously suggested that the Palestinian Authority could play a role in Gaza's future if Hamas is removed from power. However, the official noted that the future of Gaza's governance was not the main topic of conversation during the official's latest visit to Ramallah.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against pressure from the US to start implementing pauses in the fighting. He said that there would be no temporary ceasefire until Hamas released the hundreds of hostages that it was holding.
On Sunday, Blinken said that the situation is a process and that Israel has raised important questions about how humanitarian pauses would work. He noted that they need to answer those questions, including how such efforts would affect Hamas hostages, said Yahoo News.
