Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, met on Wednesday with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, to discuss Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and the role the Authority might play there when the conflict subsides.
Blinken traveled in a convoy from Tel Aviv in Israel to Ramallah, the seat of power, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The two men shook hands outside the authority's headquarters and sat down for talks with their aides.
The Biden administration said it envisions a role for the Palestinian Authority in governing the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hamas has run the Gaza Strip since it won elections in this small coastal enclave in 2006 and was violently expelled by Fatah, the group now in charge of power in the West Bank.
President Biden also said that Israel should allow the formation of a Palestinian state, arguing that a political solution is the only way out of the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Mr. Blinken reiterated that view at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday after meetings with Israeli officials. He also said that Saudi Arabia — whose ruler met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday — remains willing to consider establishing normal diplomatic relations with Israel, but only if Israel agrees to concrete steps toward establishing a free and independent Palestinian state. .
At their meeting, Mr. Abbas told Mr. Blinken that the Palestinians would not accept what he called Israeli plans to keep Gaza separate from the West Bank, the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA reported. The agency quoted him as saying, “The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, and his right-wing government have rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, and Mr. Netanyahu said years ago that Israeli officials should support a strong Hamas in Gaza in order to undermine the Palestinian Authority and the government of Israel. The idea of a unified Palestine. He also rejected any fundamental role for the authority in Gaza.
After his meeting with Abbas, Blinken planned to travel to Bahrain for further talks about the war. The stop in Bahrain was a last-minute addition to his multi-day diplomatic mission across the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East that began last Friday. Mr. Blinken plans to meet in Cairo later in the trip with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Mr. Sisi and Mr. Abbas are expected to arrive in Aqaba, Jordan, later on Wednesday to attend a crisis leadership summit called by King Abdullah II.
Adam Rasgon Contributed to reports.
