Secretary of State Blinken Announces Plans to Strengthen the United States’ Relationship With Palestine
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday announced plans to reopen a key diplomatic outreach office to the Palestinians and pledged nearly $40 million in new aid — reversing key policies of the Trump administration as he moved to bolster the embattled Palestinian government in the West Bank.
On his first official visit to the region, Blinken met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders with the immediate aim of shoring up last week’s cease-fire that ended 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. He vowed to “rally international support” for the effort while also promising to ensure that none of the aid would reach Hamas.
Blinken repeatedly alluded to the underlying issues of the decades-old conflict and expressed empathy for both sides, but he showed little interest in launching another U.S. push for lasting peace, perhaps because previous efforts by past administrations have all failed. Instead, he expressed hope for creating a “better environment” that might one day yield peace talks.
