Blinken to travel to Middle East in effort to ‘rebuild ties to’ Palestinian people, Biden says
District of Columbia, International | May 24, 2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be traveling to the Middle East this week in an effort to reiterate the United States’s relationship with Israel and strengthen the one with Palestinian leaders.
President Joe Biden said on Monday that Blinken will reiterate the administration’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security” and that he will “continue” the “efforts to rebuild ties to, and support for, the Palestinian people and leaders, after years of neglect.”
ANTISEMITIC CRIMES SPIKE IN US IN WAKE OF ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT
His itinerary includes visits to Jerusalem, Ramallah, which is in the West Bank, Cairo, and Amman, the capital of Jordan.
The 59-year-old secretary of state reaffirmed the Biden administration’s support for a two-state solution in the Middle East during an interview on ABC News’s This Week on Sunday.
“Ultimately, it is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state and, of course, the only way to give Palestinians the state to which they’re entitled,” Blinken said.
Israel and Hamas, the Gaza-based U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, agreed to a ceasefire on May 20 after 11 days of deadly clashes…
(Excerpts from the Washington Examiner)