The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken must go to the West Bank on Tuesday January 31 to meet the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, at the end of an intense diplomatic sequence where he tried to call for a de-escalation between Israelis and Palestinians.
In Ramallah, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, Antony Blinken should once again encourage Mahmoud Abbas, although weakened, to do more to fight against anti-Israeli attacks.
End of security cooperation
And this in the wake of the decision of the Palestinian Authority to end its security cooperation with Israel in retaliation for the deadly Israeli raid Thursday, January 26 in Jenin.
The United States said it regretted this decision, fearing that the situation on the ground would "
worsen
".
Prior to this, the US Secretary of State will again have a series of talks with Israeli officials in Jerusalem, as well as meetings with Israeli and Palestinian civil society actors.
Call for de-escalation
Arrived Monday, January 30 from Cairo, he urged Israelis and Palestinians to act urgently to restore calm, against the backdrop of a new spiral of deadly violence that international calls for restraint have failed to appease.
Planned for a long time, the visit of the head of American diplomacy, which began on Sunday January 29 in Egypt, took a different turn with the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent days.
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The deaths on the Palestinian and Israeli sides have multiplied: attacks, shootings, rockets, air raids and sanctions are constantly responding to each other, raising fears of a new spiral.
“
We now urge all parties to take urgent steps for a return to calm and de-escalation
,” Antony Blinken said Monday during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Antony Blinken said he wanted to “
restore a sense of security for Israelis and Palestinians alike
”.
He met his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in the evening and then Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Israeli President Isaac Herzog (right), in Jerusalem, January 30, 2023. POOL / REUTERS
Growing tensions
In the wake of anti-Israeli attacks, the government of Benyamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in the history of Israel, announced measures aimed at sanctioning the relatives of the perpetrators of the attacks.
This Sunday, Israeli forces sealed off the home of the family of a Palestinian who killed six Israelis and a Ukrainian on Friday (January 27th) in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the holy city occupied by Israel, in preparation for the destroy.
The house of a Palestinian who wounded two Israelis on Saturday January 28, also in East Jerusalem, was also to be sealed.
Israeli guards on Sunday January 29 killed a Palestinian in the West Bank.
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.
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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 Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip, ruled on Monday that Antony Blinken's visit reflected “
absolute support
” for the
Israeli “
occupation ”.
Israeli security forces and emergency service personnel, in Jerusalem, January 28, 2023. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
Egypt, the mediator of the conflict
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.
The Egyptian presidency assured that “
Egypt has made efforts in recent days to try to control the outbreak of tensions
”.
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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 above all trying to reconnect with Benyamin Netanyahu in the face of the new political situation in Israel and the growing weight of the far right.
American officials have recently succeeded in Jerusalem, a prelude to a possible upcoming visit by Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (right) at a press conference in Cairo, January 30, 2023. KHALED DESOUKI / AFP
