Mahmoud Abbas meets Antony Blinken as Palestinians accuse US of inaction over Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday at the end of a whirlwind tour of the Middle East . It comes as the US scrambles to prevent the war in Gaza from escalating into a regional conflict . Mr Blinken and Mr Abbas discussed ways to improve dire conditions in Gaza , which has been ravaged by four months of war, and the need to protect Palestinian civilians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. According to the Gazan Ministry of Health, more than 23,300 people have been killed in the territory since Israel declared war against Hamas after the October 7 attacks on Israel killed about 1,200. Mr Blinken said the civilian death toll in Gaza was “far too high” during a press conference on Tuesday evening. It is not the first time Mr Blinken has called on Israel to reduce the number of civilian casualties , which have risen each day as it continues to pound the densely populated Gaza Strip with air strikes. An air strike in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis killed journalist Heba Al-Abadlah and her daughter Joudi on Tuesday, witnesses told The National . Mr Blinken has also pressed Israel to do more to prevent the Gaza war from spilling over into the region. After visiting Mr Abbas, Mr Blinken made a surprise visit to Bahrain. Mr Blinken was set to meet King Hamad to discuss how to de-escalate tensions across the region, the US State Department said. His Middle East tour comes amid high tension on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces have clashed with Iran-backed Hezbollah, and in the Red Sea, where the Iran-backed Houthis have launched attacks on shipping lanes in support of Hamas. Mr Blinken's visit appeared to have had little impact in reducing tension. Israel assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander on Monday, after the group had taken aim at an Israeli base in retaliation for the killing of the Hamas group's deputy leader in Beirut. The Houthis also launched their largest attacks on shipping in the Red Sea on Tuesday night, despite the presence of a US-led maritime task force aimed at protecting international shipping. Mr Blinken and Mr Abbas discussed Palestinian fears that Israel is using the conflict to permanently displace Gazans. About 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes within Gaza. According to the UN, about half of the population of Gaza now resides in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. Many of those displaced Palestinians have fled northern Gaza, which was the initial focus of Israel's air and ground campaign. Gazan political scientist Mkhaimar Abusada said the initiative is a way for Israel to buy time in its campaign. “I don’t even know what an assessment mission means,” he said. “In politics they say if you want to kill an idea, you establish a committee for it.” Mr Blinken also announced during his visit that Israel had agreed to co-operate with a new UN assessment mission that would pave the way for residents of northern Gaza to return home. The area was heavily bombarded in the early days of the campaign, forcing many residents to flee south. Palestinian analyst Nour Odeh said the plan was ineffective. “Even if Israel were to allow such a mission, I think it will take time, possibly weeks, because Israel intends to use the return of [Gazans] as leverage – as they declared,” she said. Israeli officials earlier said northern residents could only return as part of a deal to release the more than 100 Israeli hostages currently held in Gaza following the October 7 attacks. “Blinken is saying ‘nicer’ things that may appease his other regional allies but the practical policies haven’t become any 'nicer' yet and there remains a dangerous absence for a vision of how this horror will end,” Ms Odeh said. “Also, Israel has a long history of barring UN missions and officials and this hostility has got more overt since the war.” After Mr Blinken’s statement, residents of northern Gaza told The National of their desire to return home. “We can’t stay here any more; we want to go back to Gaza city,” said Hala, who is now living in a shelter run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in the southern part of the enclave. She lost her house in an air strike but insists that she wants to rebuild it. “There is no good food or a clean place to stay [in the south] – the war has to end,” she said. Ali Radwan, who is now staying in the southern Dier Al Balah area, said all that he dreams of now is waking up in his own home. “Thank God that my home is still standing,” he said. Mr Abusada said that the Israeli military campaign means a return is increasingly unlikely. "Instead of speaking about [unilateral] expulsions of the Palestinians, the Israelis are now talking of Gazans leaving voluntarily," he said. "The more Israel destroys schools, homes and hospitals in the north, the more likely people are to never return."

Mahmoud Abbas meets Antony Blinken as Palestinians accuse US of inaction over Gaza

Palestinians say US Secretary of State's calls for Israel to reduce civilian casualties are ineffective