Blinken announces US plans to reopen Jerusalem ambassadors | Conflicts between Israel and Palestine Issues
After being slammed by former President Trump, the move restores tense relations with the Palestinians.
Secretary of State Antony Blink announced Tuesday that the United States will reopen its ambassador to Jerusalem – an idea that restores ties with the Palestinians, who were overthrown by Trump’s administration.
The ambassador serves as an independent office to oversee diplomatic relations with the Palestinians. But former President Donald Trump lowered his stance and placed it under the jurisdiction of his ambassador to Israel when he relocated the ambassador to Jerusalem.
This was marred by long-standing US policies and outrage Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as their future capital.
Blinken did not give a specific date for the inauguration but said it would be “an important step for our country to engage with and support the Palestinian people”.
Blinken made the announcement after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank.
“As I said to the President, I have come to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to rebuilding relations with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people, a relationship built on mutual respect and the common belief that Palestinians and Israel must have the same rights, security, freedom, opportunity and dignity,” he said. .
Speaking to Blinken, Abbas thanked the US “for its commitment to the two countries (and the preservation of the status quo at Haram al-Sharif),” Jerusalem’s holy shrine for Muslims and Jews with Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third largest Muslim site.
At a rally on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the move was a “natural way” to rebuild US-Palestinian relations, which had suffered under Trump’s rule.
“[I]In our opinion, this is the next step in announcing plans for the inauguration of the embassy, and we have also announced our commitment to help with the construction project in Gaza, which is why all of this is one of the things we want to rebuild, “Psaki said.
Blinken is in the area to help the coast to stop the war last week ended an 11-day war between Israeli and Gaza authorities that Hamas killed at least 253 Palestinians and 12 Israelis, and killed scores of people along the coast.
The war was sparked by a crackdown by Israeli police on Palestine in Jerusalem inside and around Al-Aqsa Mosque twice, a page that has been marred by several incidents of violence in Israel and Palestine over the years.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also held meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [Menahem Kahana/Pool via Reuters]
Blinken promised to “get foreign aid” to help Gaza after the war. He later announced about $ 40m inside support for Palestinians, plus a $ 5.5m emergency grant in Gaza. This brings all US aid to the Palestinians led by Biden beyond $ 360m after the Trump administration withdrew almost all aid to them.
He said any aid should be kept in the hands of Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to freedom.
The US is trying to persuade Abbas, who leads the Palestinian Authority to support the rest of the world, who controls other parts of the West Bank but whose troops were expelled from Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007 after winning the 2006 election.
