President Joe Biden announced Monday he would send Secretary of State Antony Blinken to signal support for the Palestinians, citing “years of neglect” in the region.
“He will continue our Administration’s efforts to rebuild ties to, and support for, the Palestinian people and leaders, after years of neglect,” Biden said in a statement sent to reporters Monday.
Biden was presumably referring to former President Donald Trump’s decision to end hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority and his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Since the eleven-day surge of violence in the region, Biden has repeatedly called for support of the Palestinians, even as the terrorist group Hamas launched dozens of rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza.
“It’s essential that the Palestinians in — on the West Bank be secured, that Abbas be recognized as a leader of the Palestinian people, which he is,” Biden said at a press conference Friday, vowing to rebuild Gaza “for all those innocent people who in fact have been hurt and — and had been collateral damage.”
In his statement, Biden said Blinken would coordinate international humanitarian assistance to Gaza “in a way that benefits the people there and not Hamas.”
He also said Blinken would meet with Israeli officials to discuss “our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.”