US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a news conference to announce the annual International Religious Freedom Report at the State Department in Washington, DC, on May 12, 2021. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he spoke with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, urging an end to rocket attacks fired from Gaza by Hamas militants amid escalating tensions with Israel.
“I spoke with President Abbas about the ongoing situation in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza,” the US top diplomat posted on Twitter. “I expressed condolences for the loss of life. I emphasized the need to end rocket attacks and deescalate tensions.”
A statement from State Department spokesman Ned Price added that “the Secretary also expressed his belief that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of freedom, dignity, security and prosperity.”
A readout of the call from the Palestinian presidency said Abbas had “stressed the importance of stopping the Israeli attacks on our Palestinian people everywhere, and putting an end to settler attacks and the aggressive Israeli measures against our people.”
Earlier Wednesday, Blinken said that a US envoy would travel to the Middle East to seek to calm tensions.
The top diplomat also spoke with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and pushed for both sides to de-escalate.
Since hostilities escalated on Monday evening, Hamas has fired around 1,500 rockets from Gaza into Israeli territory, according to the latest estimate by Israel’s army.
But Washington does not speak with Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group.