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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

Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament Plan and Government’s Four-Month Timeline

29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
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Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament Plan and Government’s Four-Month Timeline

29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)

Hezbollah rejected on Tuesday the Lebanese government's decision to grant the army at least four months to advance the second phase of a nationwide disarmament plan, saying it would not accept what it sees as a move serving Israel.

Lebanon's cabinet tasked the army in August 2025 with drawing up and beginning to implement a plan to bring all armed groups' weapons under state control, a bid aimed primarily at disarming Hezbollah after its devastating ‌war with ‌Israel in 2024.

In September 2025 the cabinet formally ‌welcomed ⁠the army's plan to ⁠disarm the Iran-backed Shiite party, although it did not set a clear timeframe and cautioned that the military's limited capabilities and ongoing Israeli strikes could hinder progress.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a speech on Monday that "what the Lebanese government is doing by focusing on disarmament is a major mistake because this issue serves the goals of Israeli ⁠aggression".

Lebanon's Information Minister Paul Morcos said during a press ‌conference late on Monday after ‌a cabinet meeting that the government had taken note of the army's monthly ‌report on its arms control plan that includes restricting weapons in ‌areas north of the Litani River up to the Awali River in Sidon, and granted it four months.

"The required time frame is four months, renewable depending on available capabilities, Israeli attacks and field obstacles,” he said.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan ‌Fadlallah said, "we cannot be lenient," signaling the group's rejection of the timeline and the broader approach to ⁠the issue of ⁠its weapons.

Hezbollah has rejected the disarmament effort as a misstep while Israel continues to target Lebanon, and Shiite ministers walked out of the cabinet session in protest.

Israel has said Hezbollah's disarmament is a security priority, arguing that the group's weapons outside Lebanese state control pose a direct threat to its security.

Israeli officials say any disarmament plan must be fully and effectively implemented, especially in areas close to the border, and that continued Hezbollah military activity constitutes a violation of relevant international resolutions.

Israel has also said it will continue what it describes as action to prevent the entrenchment or arming of hostile actors in Lebanon until cross-border threats are eliminated.

Arab World

Syria Starts Evacuating ISIS-linked Al-Hol Camp

TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syria Starts Evacuating ISIS-linked Al-Hol Camp

TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Members of Syrian security forces march through the entrance of the Al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakeh province on January 21, 2026. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syrian authorities began evacuating remaining residents of the ISIS group-linked Al-Hol camp in the country's northeast on Tuesday, as they empty the formerly Kurdish-controlled facility, two officials told AFP.

Fadi al-Qassem, the official appointed by the government with managing Al-Hol's affairs, told AFP that the camp "will be fully evacuated within a week, and nobody will remain", adding that "the evacuation started today".

A government source told AFP on condition of anonymity that "the emergencies and disaster management ministry is working now to evacuate Al-Hol camp" and take residents to a camp in Akhtarin, in the north of Aleppo province.

Arab World

Protesters Block Beirut Roads after Cabinet Approves New Taxes that Raise Fuel Prices

Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Protesters Block Beirut Roads after Cabinet Approves New Taxes that Raise Fuel Prices

Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Taxi drivers, foreground, block a main highway with their cars during a protest against the increased taxes and gasoline prices issued by the Lebanese Cabinet on Monday, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Protesters blocked main roads in and around Beirut on Tuesday after Lebanon’s Cabinet approved new taxes that raise fuel prices and other products to fund public pay hikes.

The Cabinet approved a tax of 300,000 Lebanese pounds (about $3.30) on every 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of gasoline on Monday. Diesel fuel was exempted from the new tax, as most in Lebanon depend on it to run private generators to make up for severe shortages in state electricity.

The government also agreed to increase the value-added tax on all products already subject to the levy from 11 to 12%, which the parliament still has to approve, The Associated Press said.

The tax increases are to support raises and pension boosts of public employees, after wages lost value in the 2019 currency collapse, giving them the equivalent of an additional six months’ salary. Information Minister Paul Morcos said the pay increases were estimated to cost about $800 million.

Though the Mediterranean country sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East, it suffers ongoing inflation and widespread corruption. The cash-strapped country also suffered about $11 billion in damages in the 2024 war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.

Anger over fuel hike Ghayath Saadeh, one of a group of taxi drivers who blocked a main road leading into downtown Beirut, said the country’s leaders “consider us taxi drivers to be garbage.”

“Everything is getting more expensive, food and drinks, and Ramadan is coming,” he said. “We will block all the roads, God willing, if they don’t respond to us.”

When the Lebanese government proposed new taxes in 2019, including a $6 monthly fee for using internet calls through services such as WhatsApp, mass protests broke out that paralyzed the country for months. Demonstrators called for the country’s leaders to step down over widespread corruption, government paralysis and failing infrastructure, and for an end to the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Lebanon has been under international pressure to make financial reforms for years, but has so far made little progress.

Weapons plan discussed

Also Monday, the cabinet received a report from the Lebanese army on its progress on a plan to disarm non-state militant groups in the country, including Hezbollah.

Last month, the army announced it had completed the first phase of the plan, covering the area south of the Litani River, near the border with Israel. The second phase of the plan will cover segments of southern Lebanon between the Litani and the Awali rivers, which includes the port city of Sidon.

Morcos, the information minister, said following the cabinet session that the second stage is expected to take four months but could be extended “depending on the available resources, the continuation of Israeli attacks and the obstacles on the ground.”

The disarmament plan comes after a US-brokered ceasefire nominally ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024. Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of rebuilding and has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon and to occupy several hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border.

Hezbollah has insisted that the ceasefire deal only requires it to disarm south of the Litani and that it will not discuss disarming in the rest of the country until Israel stops its strikes and withdraws from all Lebanese territory.