Eventually, however, he left the region without offering any concrete measures able to stop the violence, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki told Sputnik.
The US's top diplomat visited Israel and the West Bank from January 30-31 amid heightened tensions between Israel and Palestine that came after an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on January 26 and deadly shootings in Jerusalem over the next two days, which resulted in casualties on both sides.
"Blinken told us that he had spoken to the Israeli side, and it is very important that both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians, take measures in order to really de-escalate the situation. But no concrete proposals were made. He left ... without any concrete measures or agreement on anything. It means that we do not see any prospects for the situation to de-escalate in the next days," al-Maliki said.
January has been "a bloody month for Palestinians," as many as 35 citizens were killed in the conflict with Israel. After the tragic events in Jenin, Blinken hastened to come in the region and see if it was possible to calm the situation down, but failed to work it out, the foreign minister recalled.
Al-Maliki went on saying that Washington needed to speak to the Israelis if it wanted to resolve the situation and prevent new terrible bloodshed.
"They [the Israelis] are the ones who are escalating the situation further. And the new Israeli government and the new ministers. They are the ones who have called for confrontation. They are the ones who have called for death to the Palestinians, the demolition of Palestinian homes, et cetera. And so, if there is any way to de-escalate, it is up to the Israelis to stop their unilateral actions," al-Maliki told Sputnik.
Relations between Israel and Palestine have been adversarial since the latter's founding in 1948. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and builds settlements in the occupied areas despite objections from the United Nations.