Blinken seeks Palestinian governance reform as he tries to rally region behind postwar vision
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to seek governance reforms when he meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will seek governance reforms when he meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday as part of U.S. efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.
Blinken says he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding and governing Gaza after Israel's war against Hamas, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalization is still possible, but only if there is "a pathway to a Palestinian state."
The approach faces serious obstacles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the autocratic, Western-backed Palestinian leadership lacks legitimacy in the view of many Palestinians.
The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight, fueling a humanitarian catastrophe in the tiny coastal enclave. The fighting has also stoked escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants that has raised fears of a wider conflict.
