Antony Blinken says US opposes anything that puts two-state solution ‘further from reach’ after violence in Jerusalem
The United States will “continue to oppose anything” that puts a two-state solution “further from reach” after one of the bloodiest months in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in several years, the US secretary of state has said.
Antony Blinken said the US opposes Israeli settlement expansion and any moves towards the annexation of the West Bank.
The US secretary of state spoke in a news conference in Jerusalem on the second day of a two-day visit to Israel where he has met with the country’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
His comments come days after two shootings, one by a Palestinian gunman and another by a Palestinian teenager, left seven people dead and five wounded in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, some 35 Palestinians have been killed in fighting, including 10 who were killed in an Israeli military raid in the flashpoint town of Jenin last Thursday.
Mr Blinken said today: “The horrific terror attacks in Jerusalem, the escalating violence in the West Bank, have underscored the significant challenges to security and stability that the region faces and that we face.
“A rising tide of violence has resulted in the loss of many innocent lives on both sides… all sides must take steps to prevent further escalation of violence and restore calm.”
He continued: “It’s President Biden’s firm conviction that the only way to achieve (peace) is through preserving and then realising, the vision of two states for two peoples.
“The United States will continue to oppose anything that puts that goal further from reach.
“We’ve been clear that this includes things like settlement expansion, the legalisation of outposts, demolitions and
evictions, disruptions to the historic status of the holy sites, and of course incitement and acquiescence to violence.”
Mr Blinken also said that during his meetings in Israel and the occupied West Bank he had heard a “deep concern about the current trajectory”.
A man uses a slingshot during a clash with Israeli troops in the West Bank
However, he also said that he heard concrete ideas from both sides that, if pursued, could help defuse the current situation.
Mr Blinken’s first visit since Mr Netanyahu returned to power this month at the head of one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history comes at a time of extreme tension between the two sides.
He said Palestinians were facing a “shrinking horizon of hope” that needed to change.
Amid rising anger at near-daily raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Mr Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended its security cooperation agreement with Israel last week after the largest incursion in years.
The operation saw Israeli forces penetrate deep into a refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin, setting off a gunfight in which 10 Palestinians died.
In January alone, 35 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops, in the bloodiest month since 2015, while officials say attacks on Palestinian property by Israeli settlers have also increased.
On Friday, a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in an east Jerusalem settlement on Friday.
The next morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and wounded two Israelis elsewhere in east Jerusalem.
“The Israeli government is responsible for what is happening today, because of its practices that undermine the two-state solution and violate the signed agreements,” Mr Abbas said during Mr Blinken’s visit.
Mr Netanyahu has reinforced troops in the West Bank and promised measures to strengthen settlements there, but so far held off from more extreme steps.
On Tuesday, Mr Blinken met Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and discussed cooperation to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon as well the situation in the West Bank.
Hopes of achieving a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state based largely in the West Bank, have all but disappeared since the last round of US-sponsored talks stalled in 2014.
The Biden administration has said it would re-establish a consulate for Palestinians shuttered by former President Donald Trump, but has yet to say when or where it will be opened.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
The man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death has agreed to plead guilty to the murders, in a move that would spare him from the death penalty.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings in November 2022.
He was accused of sneaking into the rented home in Moscow, Idaho, which is not far from the university campus, and attacking Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Xana’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin
Kohberger previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, but is now set to be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences and waive all rights to appeal.
The family of Ms Goncalves spoke of their fury at the reported plea deal.
In a statement after media reports about the deal, they said: “It’s true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support.”
In a separate statement, they said: “After more than two years, this is how it concludes with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details.”
Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times. Two other women in the house at the time survived.
Investigators matched Kohberger’s DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
Bryan Kohberger’s mugshot. Pic: Monroe County Correctional Facility
A letter from prosecutors to the victims’ families, obtained by US media, said Kohberger’s lawyers had approached them to seek a plea deal.
“This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family,” the letter said.
“This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction, appeals.”
In Idaho, judges can reject plea agreements – but such incidents are rare. Defendants do have the right to withdraw their guilty plea if this happens.
A change of plea hearing has been set for tomorrow, with the victims’ families asking for it to be delayed so they can travel to the courthouse.
A gunman suspected of having started a fire to “ambush” firefighters in Idaho and kill them has been named as Wess Val Roley.
The 20-year-old is said to have aspired to become a firefighter before the attack on Sunday, which saw him allegedly perched in a sniper position, firing at the firefighters as they sought to put out a fire, which authorities believe he intentionally started.
Two firefighters were killed and one was injured as they came under gunfire over several hours, according to authorities.
An armoured police vehicle near where the firefighters were attacked. Pic: Reuters
They said the incident took place after they asked him to move his vehicle.
Roley was later found dead in the mountains with a firearm nearby.
Sky News’ US partner network NBC quoted Roley’s grandfather, Dale Roley, as saying “something must have snapped” in his grandson for him to commit such violence.
“He actually really respected law enforcement,” Mr Roley said. “He loved firefighters. It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.”
Mr Roley added: “I know he had been in contact to get a job with a fire department.
“He wanted to be part of a team that he sort of idolised.”
Bob Norris, the sheriff of Kootenai County, said on Sunday: “We do believe that the suspect started the fire.
“This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance.”
The firefighters were responding to a blaze. Pic: Reuters
Officers said they were “taking sniper fire” near the city of Coeur d’Alene on Sunday afternoon, with crews responding to a fire at Canfield Mountain.
Mr Norris said the gunman had used high-powered sporting rifles to fire rapidly at first responders. The ambush continued for several hours.
More than 300 officers from city, county, state and federal levels responded. Two helicopters were deployed with snipers onboard.
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First responders could be heard making urgent calls for help on their radios. “Everybody’s shot up here… send law enforcement now,” one dispatch said.
Later, the sheriff’s office said members of a SWAT team “located a deceased male on Canfield Mountain”, adding that a “firearm was found nearby”.
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