US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated in Israel that the US sees the two-state solution as the "only way" forward.

Referring to the recent escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said Monday in Tel Aviv that it was everyone's responsibility to "take steps to reduce tensions, rather than fuel them."

Christian Meier

Political correspondent for the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

  • Follow I follow

The American government strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Jerusalem, in which a Palestinian shot dead seven civilians on Friday, Blinken said.

He also criticized violent acts of revenge against civilians.

Blinken met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, among others.

His association with far-right parties has raised concerns in the United States, but the government in Washington has so far refrained from public criticism.

However, plans announced by the Israeli government on Sunday to advance the settlement of the occupied West Bank run counter to the American line.

Accordingly, even if there is currently no peace process, at least no steps should be taken that would make a two-state solution completely impossible.

The foreign minister's trip, which had been planned before the latest escalation of violence, began in Egypt on Sunday and will end in the West Bank on Tuesday.

A meeting with Mahmoud Abbas is planned there.

Blinken may be trying to get Abbas' PA to resume security cooperation with Israel.

It resigned after an Israeli military action on Thursday that resulted in the deaths of ten Palestinians.

Another Palestinian was killed on Monday when the army said a 26-year-old man hit a soldier's leg with his car in Hebron.

Soldiers then opened fire.

Since the beginning of the year, 35 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military.

Blinken met President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Monday morning.

He then told journalists that Egypt had taken "important steps", such as the release of some political prisoners.

"The concerns we have remain, however, and in the spirit of openness and in the spirit of our partnership, we have expressed them very clearly," the foreign minister said.

It is estimated that tens of thousands of people are still being held in Egypt for political reasons.

Nevertheless, the country is an important partner of the USA and one of the largest recipients of American military aid, even if some sums have recently been withheld due to human rights violations in Egypt.

Blinken also met human rights and democracy activists in Cairo.