On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan.
The meeting takes place as the confrontation between Israel and Hamas enters its seventh day. Israel has retaliated to Hamas terror strikes on its territory, which killed about 1300 people and injured many more.
The Palestinian Authority chief represents Fatah, a major political foe of Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Mahmoud Abbas met Jordan’s King Abdullah the day before his meeting with Blinken. Following the conference, the Palestinian Authority issued an appeal to end the fighting.
A statement by the Secretary General of PLO executive committee on behalf of Abbas said, “We affirm the policy of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which rejects violence and adheres to international legitimacy, peaceful popular resistance, and political action as a path to achieving our national goals of freedom and independence.”
“Mr. President’s meeting with the Jordanian King comes within the framework of the efforts made by the Palestinian leadership around the clock to stop the destructive “war”, and within the framework of coordinating positions between Palestine and Jordan” the statement further said.
Mahmoud Abbas in his statement also made an appeal for allowing international aid into Gaza.