Abbas asks Blinken for a permanent ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza

The president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbasthis Thursday defended a definitive ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic group Hamas in Gaza stripduring a meeting in the occupied West Bank with the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.

“Abbas emphasized the urgent need to establish a complete ceasefire in Gaza and end Israeli aggression, with the aim of not exposing civilians to the bombardment, violence and destruction inflicted by the Israeli war machine,” said the official Palestinian news agency. Wafa news.

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Furthermore, during the meeting that took place in Ramallah, the Palestinian president “stressed the importance of increasing humanitarian, medical and food aid, as well as quickly providing water, electricity and fuel to the Palestinian people in Gaza”.

Blinken paid an official visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank this Thursday, as he has done on several occasions since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.

This time, the visit takes place on the seventh day of the truce between Hamas and Israel, following a pact negotiated between the United States, Qatar and Egypt that includes the exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons for hostages held by Hamas, in addition to the entry of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

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On this trip, Blinken set the goal of prolonging the truce as long as possible in the face of increasingly strong international pressure for a permanent ceasefire.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 30, 2023 | Photo: EFE/EPA/NASSER NASSER

In his meeting with Abbas, Blinken “discussed ongoing efforts to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, including through maximizing humanitarian pauses,” the State Department said in a statement.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed this Thursday to Blinken that his Army will resume the offensive in the Gaza Strip, where there are already more than 15 thousand dead, most of them children and women, as well as almost two million displaced people. live in the midst of a serious humanitarian crisis due to the collapse of hospitals, shortages of housing, drinking water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel.

During the meeting, President Abbas handed Blinken a comprehensive dossier that documented “the crimes of the Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, including evidence of murder, destruction, ethnic cleansing and other atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation forces.” indicated.

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Previously, Blinken called on Netanyahu for Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, causing injuries and even death, to be brought to justice.

Furthermore, the American official defended the creation of a Palestinian state, while Abbas asked Blinken for Palestine to obtain full membership in the United Nations.

“Military and security solutions (to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) have demonstrated their failure and will not achieve security and stability in the region,” Abbas stressed.

Source: Elcomercio