Israel's repeated occupation of Gaza is unacceptable to the United States, and Washington believes that the Palestinians should govern themselves. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken emphasized this on Tuesday.
Speaking at a hearing before the US Senate Appropriations Committee, he criticized the steps taken by some Israeli politicians to undermine the position of the Palestinian National Authority.
From Blinken's point of view, the Palestinian National Authority "plays an absolutely essential, indispensable role in maintaining security and stability in the West Bank." "They are doing work that is actually vital to Israel's security. So trying to undermine the Palestinian National Authority in the way some are trying to undermine it is frankly against Israel's interests and our [American] interests," the US foreign policy chief said.
"The imperative is not only to end the conflict in Gaza as quickly as possible, but also for Israel to come up with a clear plan for how Gaza will be governed, how it will be secured, how it will be rebuilt." in the absence of a plan, Israel will either stay and occupy Gaza, and that is unacceptable to us and must be unacceptable to Israel as well, because it will inherit a guerilla war internally for a long time, or the return of [the radical Palestinian movement] Hamas. And we have already seen, in some cases, the return of Hamas in areas that Israel says it has "cleansed". Or there will simply be anarchy, lawlessness, which we now see in much of Gaza," Blinken predicted. "We certainly believe that the Palestinians must govern themselves, whether in Gaza, in the West Bank, or eventually. in the Palestinian state [as a whole]. And now the Palestinian National Authority, despite all its shortcomings, is its best mechanism," said the head of American diplomacy. He clarified that the American administration considers the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Muhammad Mustafa, committed to the reform of the Palestinian National Administration and the fight against corruption. However, the Palestinian National Administration, of course, will not be able to function if it does not have the resources to work, Blinken stated. In this regard, the Secretary of State assured that the United States seeks to ensure that "funds available to the Palestinian National Authority are actually directed to it." "Jewish Government" party. Yesterday, Ben-Gvir actually defended the idea of a mass exodus of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the arrival of Israeli settlers there. The minister stated that he would be happy to live in Gaza.
