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Blinken Wants Abbas to Help Washington Push for 'Two-State Solution'

Residents searching for survivors after the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday (AP)
Residents searching for survivors after the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday (AP)
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Blinken Wants Abbas to Help Washington Push for 'Two-State Solution'

Residents searching for survivors after the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday (AP)
Residents searching for survivors after the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken his readiness to "assume power" in the Gaza Strip, but without war or violence, Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

They indicated that Abbas also wanted to ensure the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was assuming responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Abbas said that the "crazy Israeli war" on Gaza is the annihilation of the Palestinian cause and the entire Palestinian existence under the political agenda of the far-right government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

He stressed that parties supporting Israel must know that this war has been ongoing since the formation of this cabinet.

Blinken explained that he was visiting Ramallah to confirm that the US administration considered the post-war stage as guidance.

He asserted that before Oct. 07 will not be the same as after that date, reiterating that the US and Western countries support Israel's right to defend itself.

Washington seeks for the current tragic situation to be "a turning point in the region," according to Blinken.

The Secretary stated there were several proposals for the post-war Gaza Strip, noting that the US administration prefers a solution that combines the Palestinian Authority, in cooperation with international organizations, and a peacekeeping force.

He hoped this would open horizons for a political process and ultimately lead to a two-state solution.

The Arab and Western support, "no matter how modest," will be crucial to the efforts aimed at alleviating the deteriorating conditions in Gaza and laying the foundation for what will replace "Hamas" as the ruling authority of the Strip, according to Blinken.

Blinken said that the Middle East tour aimed to mobilize regional support for Washington's efforts to transform the current crisis into an opportunity to move toward reunifying Gaza and the West Bank.

He added that the US administration believes that the Palestinian Authority must be allowed to play a pivotal role in the next stage in Gaza.

However, the Palestinian President linked the return of the Authority to the Strip with a "comprehensive political solution" to the conflict.

Abbas reaffirmed that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine.

"We will fully assume our responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip."

He called for an immediate halt to the devastating Israeli war on Gaza and urged the swift provision of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, food, water, electricity, and fuel, to the war-torn enclave.

Abbas said: "We meet again under extremely difficult circumstances, and there are no words to describe the genocidal war and destruction that our Palestinian people in Gaza are enduring at the hands of the Israeli war machinery, with no regard for international law."

"How can we remain silent when ten thousand Palestinians, including four thousand children, have been killed, and tens of thousands have been injured, and when tens of thousands of homes, infrastructure, hospitals, shelters, and water reservoirs have been destroyed?" the President stressed.

Abbas warned against the forced displacement of the Palestinian people from Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem, emphasizing complete rejection of this scenario.

He also highlighted the appalling situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, where killings and assaults on land, people, and holy sites are taking place at the hands of Israeli occupation forces and extremist settlers who engage in ethnic cleansing, discrimination, and expropriation of Palestinian tax funds.

He called on the US to call for the "immediate halt" of Israeli crimes.

The President reiterated that proper security and peace can only be achieved by ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.

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Arab World

Iraq Launches Its First National Census in Nearly Four Decades

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
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Iraq Launches Its First National Census in Nearly Four Decades

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)
Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP)

Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades Wednesday, a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions.

The act of counting the population is also contentious. The census is expected to have profound implications for Iraq’s resource distribution, budget allocations and development planning.

Minority groups fear that a documented decline in their numbers will bring decreased political influence and fewer economic benefits in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

The count in territories such as Kirkuk, Diyala and Mosul -- where control is disputed between the central government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government in the north -- has drawn intense scrutiny.

Ali Arian Saleh, the executive director of the census at the Ministry of Planning, said agreements on how to conduct the count in the disputed areas were reached in meetings involving Iraq’s prime minister, president and senior officials from the Kurdish region.

“Researchers from all major ethnic groups — Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians — will conduct the census in these areas to ensure fairness,” he said.

The last nationwide census in Iraq was held in 1987. Another one held in 1997 excluded the Kurdish region.

The new census “charts a developmental map for the future and sends a message of stability,” Planning Minister Mohammed Tamim said in a televised address.

The census will be the first to employ advanced technologies for gathering and analyzing data, providing a comprehensive picture of Iraq’s demographic, social, and economic landscape, officials say. Some 120,000 census workers will survey households across the country, covering approximately 160 housing units each over two days.

The Interior Ministry announced a nationwide curfew during the census period, restricting movement of citizens, vehicles and trains between cities, districts and rural areas, with exceptions for humanitarian cases.

The count will be carried out using the “de jure” method, in which people are counted in their usual area of residence, Saleh said.

That means that people internally displaced by years of war will be counted in the areas where they have since settled, not in their original communities. The census will not include Iraqis residing abroad or those forcibly displaced to other countries.

Saleh estimated Iraq’s population at 44.5 million and said the Kurdish region’s share of the national budget — currently 12% — is based on an estimated population of 6 million. The census will also clarify the number of public employees in the region.

By order of Iraq’s federal court, the census excluded questions about ethnicity and sectarian affiliation, focusing solely on broad religious categories such as Muslim and Christian.

“This approach is intended to prevent tensions and ensure the census serves developmental rather than divisive goals,” Saleh said. The census will be monitored by international observers who will travel across Iraq’s provinces to assess the data quality, he said.

Hogr Chato, director of the Irbil-based Public Aid Organization, said the census will reshape the map of political thinking and future decision making.

“Even though some leaders deny it, the data will inevitably have political and economic implications,” he said. “It’s also fair to allocate budgets based on population numbers, as areas with larger populations or those impacted by war need more resources.”

Chato said he believes the delays in conducting the census were not only due to security concerns but also political considerations. “There was data they didn’t want to make public, such as poverty levels in each governorate,” he said.

Ahead of the census, leaders in Iraq’s various communities urged people to be counted.

In Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district, Abdul Wahhab al-Samarrai, preacher at Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque, urged citizens to cooperate with the census.

“This is a duty for every Muslim to ensure the rights of future generations,” he said in a Friday sermon the week before the count.