Antony Blinken renews calls for path to Palestinian state; Gaza war deaths top 24,000

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday repeated U.S. calls for a Palestinian state, saying it was the only answer to Israel's "age-old quest for genuine security."

The newfound willingness of Arab Middle East states and Muslim countries to open relations with Israel, in terms of its integration, normalization and security, was being held back only by the lack of a route to the realization of a Palestinian state, Blinken told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"There's an absolute conviction by those countries, one that we share, that this integration has to include a pathway to a Palestinian state because you're not going to get the genuine integration you need, you're not going to get the genuine security you need, absent that."

Blinken stressed that a stronger, reformed Palestinian Authority that could more effectively deliver for its own people was an essential ingredient of the equation.

"If you take a regional approach, and if you pursue integration with security, with a Palestinian state, all of a sudden you have a region that's come together in ways that answer questions Israel has tried to answer for years," he said, adding that the strategy would also have the effect of isolating Israel's main security threat -- Iran and its proxies.

Blinken acknowledged that the way forward required "very difficult, challenging decisions" and a mindset that was open to the idea, but ultimately it was a choice about what type of world, society and region people wanted to live in.

He said that he believed there was "a fierce urgency of now" because "we're in the midst of what is human tragedy in so many ways in the Middle East right now -- for the Israelis and Palestinians alike."

Asked about the huge asymmetry in casualties on the two sides of the conflict in Gaza, Blinken denied that Jewish lives mattered more than Palestinian lives.

"For me and for so many of us, what we are seeing every single day in Gaza is gut-wrenching. The suffering we are seeing among innocent men and children breaks my heart. The question is, what is to be done."

He pointed to the efforts the United States has made to reduce the number of Palestinians being killed and injured and to get more humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza but acknowledged that the steps "in no way, shape, or form" took away from the "tragedy" unfolding.

"All I can tell you on a purely human level, it is devastating, but it reinforces the conviction to do everything we can in this moment to try and make a difference day in and day out," in addition to helping bring about a regional-based solution to Israel's conflict with Palestinians.

Blinken's comments came as the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said 158 Palestinians had been killed and 320 injured in the 24 hours ended Tuesday night, bringing the total death toll to at least 24,285 and 61,154 injured since hostilities broke out on Oct. 7 with Hamas' suprise attack on Israel.