Posted on 02/01/22
| News Source: i24
Secretary of state also tells Palestinian leader in phone call that US rejects West Bank settlements
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that the US is committed to reopening the Jerusalem consulate, according to a readout of the call published by Wafa, the PA's official news agency.
There was no immediate confirmation of the phone conversation from the State Department.
The top US diplomat also stressed that the Biden administration rejects settlement activity in the West Bank and settler violence against Palestinians, as well as home demolitions and evictions.
"Secretary Blinken conveyed President Biden's greetings to President Abbas and his affirmation of the US commitment to the two-state solution and the importance of creating a political horizon," the Wafa recap read.
Abbas told Blinken of the importance of "ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine," while ticking off a list of other grievances against the Jewish state.
The PA president also stressed the need "to stop the unilateral Israeli practices that undermine the two-state solution."
In a separate development, the State Department announced on Monday that the US facilitated the delivery of more than 200,000 Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses to the West Bank and Gaza as part of the Covax initiative which aims to ensure equitable vaccine distribution directed by the Gavi vaccine alliance.