The head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, at a meeting with the head of the US State Department Anthony Blinken in Ramallah, called the Gaza Strip an integral part of the Palestinian state – along with the West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem. This was reported by the Palestinian WAFA agency.
Abbas emphasized that the Organization for the Liberation of Palestine, which he has headed since 2004, is the only legitimate representative of the interests of the Palestinian people.
The head of the Palestinian Authority called the possible resettlement of Palestinians beyond the Gaza Strip, the West Bank or Jerusalem unacceptable, the agency said. Abbas placed responsibility on the Israeli authorities for the hostilities in the territory of Gaza and the death of the population in the course of the military operation.
“Security and peace will be achieved by ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital within the borders of 1967,” Abbas was quoted as saying by WAFA.
There is no information about Abbas’ essment of the actions of the radical Palestinian group Hamas after the attack on Israel on October 7.
In turn, Reuters reports that the meeting between Abbas and Blinken lasted about an hour, after which they did not communicate with the press. The agency notes that against the background of ongoing hostilities in Gaza, the state secretary is trying to initiate discussions about managing the sector after the elimination of Hamas. Israel has been insisting on the destruction of the group, recognized as terrorist by many countries of the world, since the very beginning of the war.
According to a high-ranking representative of the State Department, Blinken noted at the meeting with Abbas that the administration of the Palestinian Authority should play a key role in the life of the Gaza Strip, Reuters notes.
According to the agency, the future of the sector was not the main topic of the negotiations, but probably the Abbas administration expressed readiness to play its role in the restoration of Gaza.
The m media previously reported on several options for the future of the Gaza Strip, including the possibility of creating an interim government with the support of the United Nations and the participation of Arab governments.
However, on Saturday, after the meeting with Blinken, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan noted that it is premature to talk about the future of Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire to resolve the humanitarian crisis.
- The Gaza Strip was created in 1947 as a territorial entity in accordance with the UN plan to divide Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. From 1948 to 1967, the territory was under the control of Egypt. In 1967, following the Six-Day War, Israel established its control there.
- According to the agreements concluded between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993-1995 in Oslo, most of the Gaza Strip came under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
- In 2005, Israel unilaterally and without a political agreement completely withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip and evacuated Jewish settlements. In 2007, the Hamas group, competing with the West Bank authorities, came to power in the Gaza Strip.
- The West Bank of the Jordan River in 1920–1947 was under the control of the British Empire, in 1948–1967 it was part of Jordan, and since 1967 after the Six-Day War it was under the control of Israel. According to the Oslo agreements, structures of the Palestinian Authority (FATH – part of the Palestine Liberation Organization) were created in the West Bank with the center in Ramallah. Since the mid-1990s, control over the region has been shared between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.