Meeting Abbas, Blinken backs 'tangible steps' toward Palestinian state

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday to discuss the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip, including post-war governance of the enclave and the role the PA might play in administering it. 

During the meeting, Blinken stressed Washington’s support for “tangible steps” to establish a Palestinian state that would stand alongside Israel “with both living in peace and security,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement cited by Agence France-Presse.

The two officials also discussed efforts to end Israel's campaign in the Gaza Strip and ways to ensure the uninterrupted and safe entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave, according to the official Palestinian WAFA news agency.

Addressing recent statements by some Israeli politicians encouraging the forced emigration of Palestinians from Gaza, Abbas said “We will not allow it to happen,” according to WAFA. 

The PA leader further stressed that the Gaza Strip is "an integral part of the Palestinian state," adding, “It is not possible to accept or deal with the plans of the occupation authorities to separate it, or cut off any part of it."

Blinken traveled to Ramallah from Tel Aviv, where he met with Israeli officials on Tuesday.

The top US diplomat embarked on a tour last week that took him to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Israel. It's his fourth visit to the region since the war in the Gaza Strip started after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Blinken said he has discussed on the trip ways to achieve “durable peace and security for Israel.”

“Every partner that I met on this trip said that they’re ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long-running cycle of violence and ensures Israel’s security. But they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said.

He went on to say that the PA also has a responsibility to reform itself and improve its governance, an issue he reportedly discussed during the meeting with Abbas.

In a last-minute addition to the tour, Blinken flew to Bahrain, where he will hold talks with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on the regional spillover effects of the Israel-Hamas war and ways to prevent escalation. 

Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, joined a 10-nation coalition formed by the United States last month to protect commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

On Wednesday, the US military's Central Command said it worked with UK forces to shoot down 21 drones and missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the southern Red Sea, where dozens of commercial vessels were transiting.

CENTCOM said in a post on X that 18 one-way attack drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile were shot down Tuesday night in a “complex attack.” The British Defense Ministry said it was the “largest and most complex attack” by Houthis in recent months.

Blinken is next scheduled to visit Egypt, where he will meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. 

Meanwhile, Sisi and Abbas are expected to meet in Jordan’s Red Sea port city of Aqaba later on Wednesday for a summit called by Jordan's King Abdullah II to discuss the “dangerous developments in Gaza,” according to a Jordanian statement.

Egyptian sources told Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Wednesday that a high-level Israeli delegation had arrived in Cairo to resume negotiations on the potential release of the remaining Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

The talks had been suspended since last week's killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut in what's widely believed to have been an Israeli drone strike.