Blinken announces $50M to UNRWA, no timeframe on consulate for Palestinians

RAMALLAH — During a trip to the West Bank on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw a "shrinking horizon of hope” for Palestinians and urged both sides to take steps to de-escalate the violence that has gripped the region in recent days.

Blinken acknowledged that his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah came at a "challenging time." The violence spiked last week when the Israel military carried out what it described as a counterterrorism raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, a known hotbed of militant activity, killing nine Palestinians. 

The next day, a Palestinian gunman killed seven and injured several others outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet responded by pledging new counterterrorism measures “to fight terrorism and exact a price from terrorists and those who support them."

Blinken’s visit with the 87-year-old Palestinian leader came as part of a three-day trip to the region that began in Egypt for meetings with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other Egyptian officials. After arriving in Israel on Monday, Blinken held talks with Netanyahu and members of his newly installed right-wing government.