US Calls Out Palestinians for Cutting Security Ties With Israel

(Bloomberg) — The US called out the Palestinian Authority for cutting security ties with Israel after a West Bank gunfight killed nine people, as the Biden administration looked to ease tension days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the region.

“We don’t think this is the right step to take at this moment,” Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf said in a briefing to preview Blinken’s trip. “Far from stepping back on security coordination, we believe it’s quite important that the parties retain and, if anything, deepen security coordination.”

Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority severed security ties and announced three days of mourning following the clashes in the city of Jenin. The Israeli army said violence broke out as security forces entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest members of the militant Islamic Jihad. Eight militants and a civilian were killed.

Leaf said Blinken’s goal would be getting Palestinians and Israelis to engage with each other, and pushed back against a Palestinian effort to raise the issue with the UN and the International Criminal Court.

The fighting came just a month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government was sworn in following pledges to implement policies such as loosening open-fire rules for some security forces. The new administration, which includes some far-right figures, has also proposed expanding or building more settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians are seeking to establish an independent state.

Palestinians Cut Security Ties With Israel After Deadly Clashes

Blinken will meet Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, as well as hearing from “a wide swath of Israelis, both inside and outside of government,” Leaf said. He’ll also meet Abbas in Ramallah.

Blinken’s trip runs from Jan. 29-31. He’ll also stop in Cairo to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

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