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Blinken crossed Israeli checkpoints to reach the de facto
Palestinian capital Ramallah, according to pool reporters who
travelled with the U.S. top diplomat.
The visit came a day after talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet over Israel's
war with Hamas, regional tensions and the future of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Blinken would discuss with Abbas the PA’s responsibility to
reform itself and improve its governance, he said in a news
conference on Tuesday evening, reflecting Washington’s view that
Abbas, 88, needs to overhaul the organization in preparation to
govern a post-war Gaza.
The PA, which exercises limited self-rule in some areas of the
occupied West Bank, remains the best hope for a unified
Palestinian government of both Gaza and the West Bank.
Blinken came to Israel after visiting Washington's Arab allies,
who he said want closer relations with Israel but only if that
included a "practical pathway" to a Palestinian state.
U.S.-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now
occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago. Right-wing
leaders in Israel's current ruling coalition oppose Palestinian
statehood.
At his news conference, Blinken declined to characterize how
Netanyahu and his cabinet responded to his appeal on a
Palestinian state. He said Israel would have to make "hard
decisions, hard choices" to take advantage of the opportunity
offered by regional integration.
"Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity,
settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it
harder, not easier for Israel to achieve lasting peace and
security," he said, alluding to conflict in the West Bank.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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