As the Gaza conflict intensifies, Blinken visits Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank

 As the Gaza conflict intensifies, Blinken visits Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank

No public remarks were made when the conference came to a close.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the Sunday as part of his latest attempt to lessen civilian suffering in the Gaza Strip and start outlining a post-conflict scenario for the region. Blinken brought his frenzied Mideast diplomatic uploaded it on the Israel-Hamas war to the occupied West Bank.

Within hours after Israeli airplanes striking a Gaza Strip refugee camp, Blinken made his previously undisclosed visit to Ramallah in an armored motorcade and under strict protection, with health authorities reporting at least 40 deaths and several injuries.

Word of Blinken's presence leaked, and demonstrations broke out against his visit and US backing for Israel despite the secrecy and the State Department's refusal to announce the trip until after Blinken had actually departed the West Bank.

Apart from exchanging pleasantries in front of cameras, neither guy said anything, and the meeting concluded with no statement to the media. It wasn't immediately apparent whether the silence meant the meeting didn't go well.

According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken made it unambiguous that Palestinians will not be forcefully evicted and reiterated US commitment to provide life-saving humanitarian relief and the restoration of basic services in Gaza.

In relation to the violence being done by Israeli settlers, Miller said that Blinken and Abbas spoke about measures to bring peace and stability back to the West Bank, particularly the need of putting an end to extreme violence against Palestinians and holding those responsible accountable.

On the third day of Blinken's rigorous Middle East tour—his second since the war started with a surprise Hamas onslaught on Israel on October 7—he met with Abbas, whose Ramallah-based Palestinian Government has not played a role in Gaza since Hamas took it over by gunpoint in 2007.

Prior to moving to Jordan on Saturday to attend talks with important Arab authorities, Blinken had traveled to Israel on Friday as well as had an appointment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At every visit, Blinken has emphasized that the US fully supports Israel's right to self-defense while also pressing Israel to uphold the rules of war, safeguard civilians, and expand humanitarian relief to Gaza.

He has argued that Israel should conduct rolling humanitarian pauses to its bombings and ground operations in order to do that and to lessen the number of foreigners leaving Gaza; so far, Netanyahu has categorically rejected this idea.

If Netanyahu is persuaded that improving the lot of Palestinian residents in Gaza serves Israel's strategic interests, US officials think he could moderate his objections. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets over the weekend in Washington, Berlin, and other cities throughout the globe to protest the rising death toll and urge an immediate cease-fire.

The demand was made by the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, as well as the United Arab Emirates, all of whom Blinken met with on Saturday in Amman.

Yet according to Blinken, the US would not press for one.

We now believe that a cease-fire would just allow Hamas to remain where it is, reorganize, and carry out its actions from October 7, he said. Rather, he said that in order to protect civilians, provide assistance, and evacuate foreign people while still allowing Israel to accomplish its goal of defeating Hamas, brief humanitarian breaks in the conflict would be essential.

Discussing Gaza's postwar destiny, one of Blinken's primary agenda topics, was deemed premature by Arab authorities. They said that the first things that need to be done are to put an immediate stop to the killing and to resume regular humanitarian supplies.

How are we going to even consider what could happen next? said Ayman al-Safadi, the foreign minister of Jordan. We must establish our priorities.

While expressing indignation at the civilian casualties of Israeli military operations, Arab governments are rejecting American demands that they take a more active role in crisis resolution. They believe that Israel is primarily to blame for the Gaza conflict.

However, US officials think that Arab support, in whatever form, would be essential to attempts to alleviate the deteriorating circumstances in Gaza and provide the framework for a future government, should Israel be successful in driving out Hamas, to take over the region.

There is still a dearth of ideas on Gaza's future administration. Blinken and other US officials are providing a hazy picture, suggesting that it may include international organizations, a peacekeeping force, and perhaps a rejuvenated Palestinian Authority. US officials admit there has been a noticeable lack of excitement for these initiatives.