Blinken in Ramallah presses for two-state solution

STORY: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his Mideast tour on Tuesday in the West Bank, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, affirming Washington's support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and warning that Palestinians are facing what he called a "shrinking horizon of hope" for their future.

"It's also important to continue to describe, not only for reducing violence but ensuring that ultimately Israelis and Palestinians alike enjoy the same rights, the same opportunities. What we're seeing now for Palestinians is a shrinking horizon of hope, not an expanding one. And that too, we believe, needs to change."

The Palestinian Authority leader said he was committed to work with Washington and the international community to return to dialogue in an effort to end what he called the Israeli occupation on the land of the state of Palestine, based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian state's capital.

These are protests in Ramallah and Gaza over Blinken's visit.

Blinken crossed into the West Bank after meetings with Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier that day, and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier.

The balancing act that the secretary of state has to manage here comes during the bloodiest month between Israelis and Palestinians since 2015.

It includes at least 35 Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli forces, and the attack by a Palestinian gunman outside a synagogue last week.

The Palestinian Authority also last week suspended its security cooperation with Israel, a response to an incursion by Israeli forces said to be the largest in years.

Blinken is calling for calm from both sides.