US opposes illegal Israeli settlement expansion, says Blinken in West Bank

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Tuesday, as tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians simmered.

Mr Blinken reiterated that it was important to take steps to defuse tensions in the West Bank, a sentiment he had shared with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi of Egypt and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.

After the Ramallah meeting, he said he appreciated Mr Abbas's determination to “work in a responsible way during a challenging time”.

He said the US opposed any actions taken by the either side that make a two-state solution “more difficult,” including “settlement expansion, demolitions and evictions, distractions to the historic status of holy sites”.

Mr Blinken was in the West Bank as part of a regional tour ― planned before the latest violence ― and also made stops in Israel and Egypt.

He urged calm on both sides after last week's killing of seven people outside a synagogue by a Palestinian gunman, in the worst such attack in the Jerusalem area for years.

An Israeli raid in a refugee camp in Jenin resulted in the deaths of 10 Palestinians.

In January alone, 35 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops ― the bloodiest month since 2015 ― while officials said attacks on Palestinian property by Israeli settlers have also increased.

Mr Blinken said he appreciated Mr Abbas's determination to “work in a responsible way during a challenging time”.

The US will give an additional $50 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and will “continue to work” to reopen the American consulate in Jerusalem, Mr Blinken said.

Under Mr Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem in a de facto recognition of the city as the capital of Israel. Mr Trump also closed a facility that served as a consulate for Palestinians.

Mr Abbas, who last week announced that his Palestinian Authority was cutting security co-ordination with Israel after 10 Palestinians were killed in the army raid in Jenin, was said to have prepared a set of demands to present to Mr Blinken during his visit to Ramallah.

The demands include stopping Israeli plans to expand settlement construction in the West Bank, halting Israeli army incursions into Palestinian towns, curbing settler attacks and acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and removing sanctions announced by the Israeli cabinet against the Palestinians, including withholding tax revenue.

After a meeting with Mr Netanyahu on Monday, Mr Blinken urged both sides to take “urgent steps” to calm tensions and said Washington would work to “restore a sense of security” craved by “Israelis and Palestinians alike”.

However, faith in the US as a broker of peace is waning.

“We can no longer trust the US policy which only protects the occupation,” deputy head of the ruling Fatah party, Mahmoud Aloul, said on Tuesday.

“The world is pressuring us to retract from our recent decisions,” he said, local outlet Al Quds Al Ekhbariya reported, possibly referring to the Palestinian Authority's decision to stop its security co-operation with Israel.

Before heading to the West Bank on Tuesday, Mr Blinken met Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who took office as part of the right-wing Netanyahu government elected last year.

The minister praised Mr Blinken for his “unwavering support” in helping safeguard Israel's military superiority in the region.

Since the start of the year, conflict with Israel has claimed the lives of 35 Palestinian adults and children — including attackers, militants and civilians.

Over the same period six Israeli civilians, including a child, and one Ukrainian civilian have been killed. All were shot dead in Friday's attack outside the synagogue.

In Mr Blinken's first stop in Egypt and talks with Mr El Sisi, he commended “Egypt's important role in promoting stability in the region”.

The diplomats and intelligence services of Egypt — a major recipient of US military aid — are regularly called upon to intercede between Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr Blinken's Israel visit was part of the Biden administration's efforts to engage quickly with Mr Netanyahu, who had tense relations with the previous Democrat president, Barack Obama.

In November, the US also named a special representative to Palestine, Hady Amr, who described the move as “unprecedented” and a bid to “elevate” the US relationship with Palestine.

Mr Trump also stopped funding to the already underfunded UNRWA, a relationship President Joe Biden restored.

“I stopped massive amounts of money that we were paying to the Palestinians,” Mr Trump said at the time. “We’re not paying until you make a deal,” he said he told the Palestinians in 2018.

In January, UNRWA said it was starting the year with a $70 million debt and made a plea for $1.63 billion for the year to help fund schools and provide assistance across Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied territories, and in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.