US’s Blinken meets Abbas in West Bank, Houthis step up Red Sea attacks

US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israelioccupied West Bank yesterday, after pressing Israel’s leaders to offer a pathway to a Palestinian state.

Blinken crossed Israeli checkpoints to reach the de facto Palestinian capital Ramallah, according to pool reporters who travelled with the US top diplomat.

The visit came a day after talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet over Israel’s war with Hamas, regional tensions and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Blinken would discuss with Abbas the PA’s responsibility to reform itself and improve its governance, he said in a news conference on Tuesday evening, reflecting Washington’s view that Abbas, 88, needs to overhaul the organisation in preparation to govern a post-war Gaza.

The PA, which exercises limited self-rule in some areas of the occupied West Bank, remains the best hope for a unified Palestinian government of both Gaza and the West Bank.

Blinken came to Israel after visiting Washington’s Arab allies, whom he said want closer relations with Israel but only if that included a “practical pathway” to a Palestinian state.

US-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago.

Right-wing leaders in Israel’s current ruling coalition oppose Palestinian statehood.

Blinken declined to characterise how Netanyahu and his cabinet responded to his appeal on a Palestinian state.

He said Israel would have to make “hard decisions, hard choices” to take advantage of the opportunity offered by regional integration.

“Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it harder, not easier for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security,” he said, alluding to conflict in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza intensified yesterday despite a pledge by Israel that it would pull out some troops and shift to a more targeted campaign, and pleading from its ally Washington to kill fewer civilians.

Israel has said this week it was planning to begin drawing down troops, at least from the northern part of Gaza, after weeks of US pressure to scale down its operations.

But the fighting appears to be as intense as ever, especially in southern and central areas.

Israel has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza since launching its campaign to eradicate the Hamas militant group that runs the enclave, after Hamas fighters killed 1,200 Israelis and captured 240 hostages on October 7.

● Yemen’s Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said yesterday, as the Iranian-backed militia steps up attacks on commercial vessels.

US and British forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis on Tuesday towards Red Sea shipping lanes, the US military’s Central Command said, adding it was the 26th such Houthi attack since November 19.

“It is a huge problem, it is a consequence of other (war) outbreaks. I would not like to open a third front of war at this time,” Crosetto said, in a reference to current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

The Houthis have vowed to continue the attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza, and have said they would strike US warships if the militia group itself was attacked in Yemen.

The US and other countries last month launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect civilian vessels in the important trade route.

Italy announced in December it would send a naval vessel to the area after requests for back-up from ship owners, but it has not signed up to the USled mission, with other EU allies also appearing to distance themselves from the initiative.

Crosetto said parliament would need to approve Italian naval involvement in Operation Prosperity Guardian, complicating any eventual adherence. —