Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Antony Blinken there must be an immediate ceasefire to the war in Gaza during a meeting with the top US diplomat in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Abbas’s spokesperson, adding to a growing chorus of Arab leaders stressing the need for a truce as the death toll in Gaza approaches 10,000.
Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Ramallah, said the meeting lasted less than an hour – “far less time than anyone expected” – and finished with no joint news conference or statements, likely indicating “substantial differences and disagreements” between the US and Palestinian positions.
“One of the keywords that we heard from the Palestinian president is that [the Palestinians] are seeking a ‘ceasefire’… and demanding that the US seek a ‘ceasefire’,” Jamjoom said.
“That’s one of the key differences… the US has said they will continue to look for humanitarian pauses… they are not seeking a ceasefire.”
The mounting casualties in Gaza have put the US’s diplomatic efforts under further scrutiny by its Arab allies, who have grown increasingly frustrated by the worsening humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel, which continues with its military offensive on Gaza, killed more than 50 people in air raids late on Saturday.
During a news conference in Amman, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stressed that Arab countries want an immediate ceasefire, warning that “the whole region is sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come”.
“We don’t accept that this is self-defence,” Safadi said, referring to Israel’s monthlong assault on Gaza that has killed at least 9,488 Palestinians, more than a third of them children.
“It cannot be justified under any pretext and it will not bring Israel security, it will not bring the region peace.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, whose country has been acting as the sole conduit for foreigners to escape Gaza and for aid to get in, called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire.”
Nuking Gaza is an option: Israeli ‘heritage’ minister
