Ramallah, MINA – The United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday, his country will reopen the Consulate General Office in Jerusalem as a step to restore relations with Palestine.
As quoted from the Voice of America, previously the consulate general’s office had long been an autonomous office in charge of diplomatic relations with Palestine.
But former US President Donald Trump downgraded the consulate’s operations and placed him under the authority of the US ambassador to Israel when he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018.
Blinken has not given an exact date when the consulate will reopen.
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Blinken announced the move after holding a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, in the West Bank on Tuesday.
“As I conveyed to President Abbas, I am here to underline the US commitment to rebuilding relations with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people, a relationship built on mutual respect, and also the shared belief that Palestine and Israel share the right to use measures, same measure of security, freedom and dignity, ”said Blinken.
Blinken was in the region to help shore up a ceasefire last week that ended an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas that devastated and killed more than 250 people, mostly Palestinians.
Blinken vowed to “build international support to help Gaza post-war. (T/RE1)
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