US Secretary of State reaffirms stance on establishment of Palestinian state

During a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on January 10, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the US supports practical steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.

According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Secretary of State Blinken reiterated the US position on the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and "both living together in peace and security".

During his meeting with President Abbas in the West Bank, Mr. Blinken also mentioned the growing instability in the occupied region.

In order to establish stability in this territory, the US diplomatic leader called on Israel to fully hand over outstanding tax revenues to the Palestinian side.

For years, Israel has withheld some of this money, citing the costs of Palestinian prisoners and the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.

For his part, President Abbas stressed that Gaza is an indispensable part of the hope of establishing a Palestinian state and should not be divided due to the current conflict between the Hamas movement and Israel.

In the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, Israel and Palestine agreed to a "two-state" solution, in which both sides recognized each other's right to exist.

However, negotiations to implement the agreement have stalled since Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007.

The conflict culminated in Hamas' surprise attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military response campaign in the Gaza Strip, which killed at least 23,357 Palestinians over the past three months.