The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken is on Tuesday January 31 in the occupied West Bank where he is to meet President Mahmoud Abbas, at the end of an intense diplomatic sequence where he tried to call for a de-escalation between Israelis and Palestinians.
In the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, Antony Blinken should once again encourage the head of the Palestinian Authority, although discredited with many Palestinians, to do more to fight against anti-Israeli attacks.
This comes in the wake of the Palestinian Authority's decision to end its security cooperation with Israel in retaliation for last Thursday's deadly Israeli raid in Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
The United States said it regretted this decision, fearing that the situation on the ground would "
worsen
".
“Unconditional support”
Before leaving for Ramallah, the US Secretary of State met in the morning with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in Jerusalem.
Yoav Gallant hailed
Antony Blinken's "
unconditional support "
for Israel's "right to defend itself
," while the secretary of state reiterated his calls "
to take steps to restore calm and defuse tensions
," according to their respective offices.
Read also“Anyway we will come back and we will win”: Or Haim, the wild colony that is testing Netanyahu’s government
Planned for a long time, the flash Middle Eastern tour of the head of American diplomacy, which began on Sunday in Egypt, took a different turn with the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent days.
"Security feeling"
The deaths on the Palestinian and Israeli sides have multiplied: attacks, shootings, rockets, air raids and sanctions continue to respond to each other, raising fears of a new spiral.
During a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Antony Blinken said he wanted to "
restore a sense of security for both Israelis and Palestinians
" and called for "
urgent measures
".
In the wake of anti-Israeli attacks, Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israel's history, announced measures aimed at punishing the relatives of the perpetrators of the attacks.
On Sunday, Israeli forces sealed the home of the family of a Palestinian who killed six Israelis and a Ukrainian on Friday in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel, with a view to destroying it.
The home of a Palestinian who injured two Israelis on Saturday, also in East Jerusalem, was also to be sealed.
Israeli guards killed a Palestinian in the West Bank on Sunday.
On Monday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in Hebron, in the south of this territory, according to the Palestinian authorities.
The army said they shot at a fleeing driver.
The anti-Israel attacks came after Israel's deadliest raid in years in the West Bank with ten Palestinians killed in Jenin including fighters, followed by rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and Israeli retaliatory strikes.
Hamas, the ruling Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, said Monday that Antony Blinken's visit reflected "
absolute support
" for the
Israeli "
occupation ".
Dead end
Antony Blinken began his tour in Egypt, a country whose diplomacy and especially the intelligence services are regularly called upon to intervene in the Palestinian question.
The first Arab country to have signed peace with Israel in 1979 and a neighboring state in the Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade for more than 15 years, Egypt receives Israeli heads of government as well as the leaders of the various Palestinian parties.
However, Antony Blinken's room for maneuver seemed limited and, in private, American officials did not hide their frustration with the escalation and impasse in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict finds itself.
Washington is trying above all to reconnect with Benyamin Netanyahu, back in power since the end of December, and while the far right has strengthened in Israel.
American officials have recently succeeded in Jerusalem, a prelude to a possible coming soon of Binyamin Netanyahu to the White House.
The Israeli Prime Minister is also due to travel to Paris on Thursday where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron.