After being degraded by former President Trump, the measure restores diplomatic ties with the Palestinians.
secretary of state Anthony Blink announced Tuesday that the United States will reopen its consulate general in Jerusalem, an action that restores ties with the Palestinians, which had been downgraded by the Trump administration.
The consulate served for a long time as an autonomous office in charge of diplomatic relations with the Palestinians. But former President Donald Trump downplayed his operations and put them under the authority of his ambassador to Israel when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem.
These movements broke with long-standing American politics and outraged the Palestinians, who seek East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Blinken did not give a precise date for the reopening of the consulate, but said it would be “an important way for our country to engage and support the Palestinian people.”
Blinken announced the move after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
“As I told the President, I am here to underline the commitment of the United States to rebuild the relationship with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people, a relationship based on mutual respect and also the shared conviction that Palestinians and Israelis they deserve equal. security measures, freedom, opportunity and dignity, “he said.
In statements alongside Blinken, Abbas thanked the United States for “its commitment to the two-state solution (and maintenance) of the status quo in Haram al-Sharif,” a Jerusalem precinct sacred to Muslims and Jews. which contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third measure of Islam — the holiest place.
During a regular briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the move was a “natural step” in rebuilding the U.S. relationship with the Palestinians, which it suffered under the administration. Trump.
“[I]In our view, this is the next natural step in announcing plans to reopen the consulate, and again, we also announced our commitment to contribute funds to rebuild Gaza, so that they are all part of our efforts to rebuild this relationship. ”Psaki said.
Blinken is in the region to help prop up the stop the fire last week, which ended a devastating 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas rulers of Gaza, which killed at least 253 Palestinians and 12 Israelis, and caused widespread destruction in coastal territory.
The war broke out after Israeli police crackdown on Palestinians Jerusalem in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a place that has seen several outbreaks of Israeli-Palestinian violence over the years.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has also held meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [Menahem Kahana/Pool via Reuters]
Blinken promised to “gather international support” to help Gaza after the war. He later announced nearly $ 40 million helps the Palestinians, including $ 5.5 million in emergency aid to Gaza. This brings the total U.S. assistance to Palestinians under the Biden administration to over $ 360 million after the Trump administration cut off almost all of their aid.
He said any aid will remain out of the hands of Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist.
The United States is trying to strengthen Abbas, who heads the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which manages parts of the occupied West Bank, but whose forces were ousted from Gaza when Hamas took power there in 2007 after winning the US election. 2006.
