RAMALLAH: US top diplomat Antony Blinken told Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday that Washington supports "tangible steps" towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
Blinken reiterated Washington's longstanding position that a Palestinian state must stand alongside Israel, "with both living in peace and security", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Palestinian statehood was anticipated following the Oslo Accords of the 1990s but talks have been moribund for years.
The Israeli government has shown no interest in reviving negotiations with the Palestinian leadership.
Abbas described the Gaza Strip as "an integral part of the Palestinian state" according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
"It is not possible to accept or deal with the plans of the occupation authorities to separate Gaza, or cut off any part of it," the Palestinian leader told Blinken.
Discussions have been underway for weeks over post-war governance of Gaza, though Israel has warned the fighting is likely to continue for months.
The Palestinian president also raised "efforts made to stop the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," Wafa reported.
Blinken referred to "increased volatility" in the West Bank, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in raids by the Israeli military or attacks by settlers in recent months.
As part of efforts to stabilise the territory, Blinken called on Israel to hand over revenues owed to the Palestinians in full.
Blinken "underscored the United States' position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with prior agreements," Miller said.
As the US secretary of state arrived under tight security in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, protesters held up signs that read "Stop the genocide", "Free Palestine" and "Blinken out".
Blinken was later set to discuss a "push for an immediate ceasefire" in talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba.
The bloodiest ever Gaza war started by the October 7 which Israel has raged on for more than three months and killed over 23,000 people in the territory, according to its health ministry.
Global concern has flared over the spiralling humanitarian crisis, and Blinken -- while voicing continued US political and military support for top regional ally Israel -- has urged steps to reduce the surging civilian death toll.
Dire shortages brought by an Israeli siege mean the "daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly children, is far too high," Blinken said on Tuesday at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. — AFP
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