British Foreign Minister unexpectedly visited Israel: he will meet Benjamin Netanyahu

The British Foreign Secretary, Dominic raab, visited Israel on Tuesday, where he will meet the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and in the West Bank, where he will also meet the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, reported his department.

Raab’s visit, which had not been announced, comes on the same day as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

In a statement, the British Foreign Office stressed that the UK “remains committed to the two-state solution as the best way to end the occupation once and for all, achieve Palestinian self-determination and preserve Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity.”

Raab himself added in the note that his country “Welcome“To the ceasefire in Israel and the Gaza Strip, but recalled that now”it is essential that all parties focus on ensuring its maintenance“.

“The events of the past month show the urgent need to make real progress towards a more positive future for Israelis and Palestinians, and to break the cycle of violence that has claimed so many lives.“Said the head of British diplomacy.

Raab will also meet with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, and the Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, before meeting the Palestinian Prime Minister in the West Bank, Mohamad Shtayeh, and its counterpart, Riad Malki.

After meeting with Netanyahu today in Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Blinken urged “to build on the truce” between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip to “prevent a return to violence”.

For his part, Abbas assured today that your government will reopen a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, after its closure following the transfer of the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the Holy City in 2018.

“The United States will continue the process of reopening its consulate in Jerusalem. This is an important step “, the US foreign minister said at a West Bank meeting with the Palestinian president, after earlier meeting with key Israeli authorities to discuss the recent truce that ended the escalation of war between Israel and the militias Palestinian women in Gaza. These 11 days of violence have left more than 253 Palestinians dead in the Gaza Strip – in addition to some 1,980 injured – and 12 people in Israel.

Blinken added that he opposes “any unilateral action” that undermines prospects for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.“Whether it is Israeli settlement activities” in the occupied territory, “house demolitions” or “Palestinian annexation of territories” by Israel, and reiterated the Joe Biden administration’s commitment to the two-state solution.

The Secretary of State’s meeting with the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) also illustrates his government’s desire to get closer to the Palestinian leadership, after years of distancing from the previous administration of Donald Trump, with whom the ANP broke off relations.

“I am here to underscore the commitment of the United States government to rebuilding its relationship with the ANP” based on “mutual respect” and “the shared belief that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of security, freedom, opportunity and dignity,” Blinken noted.

According to the Secretary of State, Executive to Request $ 75 Million from Congress for Economic and Humanitarian Aid to PalestiniansIn addition to pledging to provide 5.5 million immediate aid to Gaza and 32 million to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

In addition, he announced that he was in contact with other countries in the international community to provide the ANP with 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

The PNA, with a limited government in the areas of the occupied West Bank and without direct control of Gaza – where Hamas terrorists reign – is the only valid interlocutor for many countries and organizations of the international community such as the United States or the European Union. , who regard Hamas as a terrorist group and have no direct relationship with it.

Before meeting Abbas in Ramallah, Blinken today met with the highest Israeli authorities in Jerusalem, like Prime Minister Netanyahu, with whom he discussed the ceasefire in Gaza and discussed how to approach reconstruction in the Strip without benefiting Hamas terrorists.

With information from EFE

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