Blinken wraps up Mideast tour to bolster Gaza ceasefire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up a Mideast tour to bolster an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, calling for regional cooperation to avoid more “harrowing violence,” AFP reported.

Blinken met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders during the two days of talks, throwing Washington’s support behind the truce that ended 11 days of heavy Israeli bombing of Gaza and rocket fire from the impoverished coastal enclave into Israel.

“Securing the ceasefire was important, particularly because of the devastating toll violence took on families on both sides,” Blinken told reporters after meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman, his final stop.

“We see the ceasefire not as an end, but as a beginning of something to build on.”

Following talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Blinken vowed to rebuild US relations with the Palestinians by reopening a consulate in Jerusalem, as well as give millions in aid for the war-battered Gaza Strip.

The announcements signaled a break with US policy under former president Donald Trump, who had shuttered the diplomatic mission for Palestinians in 2019 and slashed aid to the Palestinian Authority.

In the long term, Blinken invoked the “possibility of resuming the effort to achieve a two-state solution, which we continue to believe is the only way to truly assure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, and of course to give the Palestinians the state they’re entitled to,” AFP reported,

After meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken reiterated support for Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, adding that they must not benefit from reconstruction aid.

The “most urgent thing is humanitarian assistance for the people in Gaza”, Blinken said, listing water, sanitation and electricity as immediate needs, ahead of support for longer-term reconstruction.