Blinken to meet Palestinian Authority President amid Israel-Hamas war

It would be the first visit of any top American diplomat to the West Bank since the outbreak of the Israel Hamas war, The Times of Israel reported citing a Palestinian official.

Earlier this week, Blinken told a congressional hearing, "At some point, what would make the most sense would be for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza."

The comments marked the first time the Biden administration publicly declared its desire for the PA to return to the Gaza Strip after privately raising the idea with regional partners amid the Israel-Hamas war, The Times of Israel reported.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his "deep concern" in a meeting with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Amman about the cross-fire along Lebanon's southern border with Israel, CNN reported on Saturday.

"Secretary Blinken thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership in preventing Lebanon from being pulled into a war that the Lebanese people do not want, as well as his efforts with regional partners to pursue durable and sustainable peace in the region," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Blinken also discussed US efforts to secure humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, Miller said.

Meanwhile, Blinken also met with Jordan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, in Amman ahead of the joint meeting.

Earlier on Friday, Blinken called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are meeting for the third time since the outbreak of the war at the Kirya in Tel Aviv," Israel's PM Office posted on X.

Blinken and Netanyahu met privately and then held an expanded meeting together with the War Cabinet.

"At the start of the expanded meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu showed @SecBlinken and his delegation clips of the footage prepared by the IDF Spokesperson, which depict the horrors and the massacre perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th," the Israeli PM office added. (ANI)