After the meeting with Abbas, he called for fixing the lull arrangement ... and Netanyahu threatens "Hamas" if it is violated

Blinken: America will provide $ 75 million to the Palestinians and reopen its consulate in Jerusalem

Blinken assured Abbas of Washington's desire to "rebuild" its relationship with the Palestinians.

A.F.B.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced yesterday that his country wants to "rebuild" its relationship with the Palestinians, and will seek to reopen the American consulate in Jerusalem and provide $ 75 million in aid and development and economic projects for the Palestinians, during his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. After he met in Jerusalem with the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who threatened a "very strong response" if Hamas violated the truce.

In detail, Blinken said after his meeting with the Palestinian President, “I am here to confirm the commitment of the United States to rebuild the relationship with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people.

A relationship based on mutual respect and also on the common conviction that Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve equal measures in terms of security, freedom, opportunity and dignity.

Blinken explained that "the United States will move forward with the process of reopening our consulate in Jerusalem," explaining that it is an important way "to deal with and provide support to the Palestinian people."

He also pledged to help rebuild the besieged Gaza Strip.

"The United States will inform Congress of our intention to provide $ 75 million in aid for development and economic assistance to the Palestinians in 2021," he affirmed.

According to Blinken, Washington will also provide 5.5 million dollars in urgent aid to the Gaza Strip and 32 million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

The administration of former US President Donald Trump stopped funding for "UNRWA", closed the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, and closed its General Consulate in Jerusalem.

The US Secretary of State called for confirming the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and supporting efforts to rebuild it after the recent round of tension with Israel.

The minister said that the United States will work to mobilize the international community to provide 1.5 million doses of the "Covid-19" vaccine to the Palestinian people.

The official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) stated that Abbas discussed with the US minister the latest developments to install the calm in all of the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip, and ways to reach a political solution and strengthen the Palestinian-American partnership.

Abbas thanked the US administration led by President Joe Biden for the efforts it had made in close cooperation with Egypt and with the Arab brothers and the parties concerned to cease fire.

He stressed "the necessity for work to stabilize the calm, to include stopping the extremist settlers' attacks supported by the Israeli occupation forces in occupied Jerusalem, especially in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to prevent the seizure of the homes of Palestinian citizens and their expulsion from the neighborhoods of Jerusalem."

Blinken had started his visit to the region with a visit to Jerusalem, where he held talks with the Israeli prime minister, and confirmed in a press conference after his meeting with Netanyahu, that the United States is working "to prevent weapons" from reaching Hamas in the Gaza Strip, saying: "We will work closely with our partners," With everyone, to ensure that Hamas does not benefit from the reconstruction aid. ”

"We realize that in order to prevent a renewal of violence, the atmosphere must be used to address a wider range of fundamental issues and challenges," Blinken said.

"There is a lot of hard work" to restore confidence between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Blinken said, explaining, "We saw the alternative and I think this should push us all to redouble our efforts to preserve peace and improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians alike."

Blinken added that he discussed with Netanyahu the "other steps" that the leaders of both sides need to take to outline a better path for the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Blinken said that he had come to the region to try to reduce tension, adding that Biden made it clear that his country fully supports Israel's right to self-defense in the face of missiles coming from Gaza.

For his part, Netanyahu threatened during the joint press conference with Blinken a "very strong reaction" if Hamas violated the ceasefire and fired rockets again across the border.

Netanyahu said he and Blinken discussed how to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Blinken will travel to Egypt to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who played a key role in reaching a truce, which took effect Friday.

On the last leg of his tour, he will visit Blinken before returning to the United States, Jordan tomorrow.

Relatedly, the Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, called for the implementation of the lull arrangement to include the West Bank and Gaza and the transition to a political solution to the Palestinian issue.

Safadi stressed during his meeting in Ramallah yesterday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the necessity of working on reconstruction in the Gaza Strip and expediting the transition to a political solution in accordance with international legitimacy decisions.

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