Israel-Gaza live updates: Blinken, Abbas meet on restoring 'calm' in West Bank

The top U.S. diplomat made an unannounced stop in the West Bank on Sunday.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: November 5, 2023, 5:13 PM EST

Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Mar 1, 6:03 am

What we know about the conflict

The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.

Nov 05, 2023, 2:13 PM EST

Blinken meets with Iraqi prime minister

Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Iraq to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday following the secretary's visits to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.

Blinken told reporters that his meeting with the Iraqi prime minister was productive and said he emphasized the need to prevent spillover from the conflict in Gaza.

"I made very clear that the attacks, the threats coming from militia that are aligned with Iran are totally unacceptable," Blinken said. "We're not looking for conflict with Iran. We've made that very clear. But we'll do what's necessary to protect our personnel."

"We're working very hard to make sure that the conflict in Gaza does not escalate, does not spread to other places, whether it's here, whether it's elsewhere in the region," he said.

Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Nov. 5, 2023.
Abed Khaled/AP

Blinken was asked about Arab leaders' instance that nothing short of a total cease-fire would be acceptable.

"I think everyone would welcome humanitarian pauses -- there's no doubt about that," Blinken responded.

Men help toddlers to drink some water upon reaching the central Gaza Strip on foot via the Salah al-Din road on their way to the southern part of the Palestinian enclave on Nov. 5, 2023.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

He said pauses "advance things that we're all trying to accomplish," including getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, getting people out of Gaza and getting hostages home.

On his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken said the PA was "playing a very important role right now in the West Bank in trying to keep stability there."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said.
1:18

Blinken makes unannounced visit to West Bank

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said.
ABCNews.com

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Nov 05, 2023, 5:55 AM EST

Blinken visits West Bank, meets with Palestinian Authority leader Abbas

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the West Bank on Sunday, meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an unannounced stop, the State Department said.

PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Ramallah in the West Bank, Nov. 5, 2023.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Muqata in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 5, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The two "discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank, including the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians and hold those accountable responsible," spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Nov 05, 2023, 1:32 AM EST

Blinken in Jordan reaffirms need for 'increased, sustained' humanitarian aid for Gaza

In a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "underscored our shared commitment to the protection of civilians" and the need for "increased, sustained" humanitarian aid in Gaza, the State Department said.

"Secretary Blinken also expressed concern regarding the increasing violence in the West Bank and emphasized the U.S. commitment to working with partners towards a durable and sustainable peace in the region, to include the establishment of a Palestinian state, a shared priority of both the United States and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Jordan's King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman, Jordan, Nov. 4, 2023.
Royal Hashemite Court/via Reuters

The secretary had earlier on Saturday met with his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts. The U.S. and those countries share "the same fundamental interest and objective: to end this conflict in a way that ensures lasting peace and security in the region," Blinken told reporters.

He said he also spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi about ways to accelerate humanitarian aid to Gaza and protect Palestinian civilians.

"The United States supports Israel's right to defense against Hamas, a terrorist organization that attacked it brutally and that cares not a whit about the Palestinian people or their futures," Blinken said. "This is the same right that each of our countries has. But as Israel conducts its campaign, how it does it matters."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards his plane to depart after meetings, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst/AP

Blinken is expected on Sunday to arrive in Ankara, Turkey, where he's scheduled to meet with President Recep Tayyep Erdoğan and other local officials.

Nov 04, 2023, 5:47 PM EDT

Biden says progress is being made on a humanitarian pause

President Joe Biden on Saturday said progress was being made on a humanitarian pause -- something his administration has pushed for to get hostages out and aid into Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Answering a shouted question on if progress was being made, Biden gave a thumbs up and said, "Yes," as he was departing church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed U.S. support for temporary pauses in the Israel-Hamas war during remarks at a summit in Jordan on Saturday. He again rejected the idea of a ceasefire being promoted by many Middle Eastern officials at the summit in Amman.

"It's our view that a ceasefire now would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7. And you don't have to take my word for it -- just a few days ago that a senior Hamas official said it was their intent to do Oct. 7 again and again and again," Blinken said. "No nation would accept that. None of us would find that tolerable."

The remarks capped off an afternoon of talks with Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi, Qatari and Emirati diplomats and a senior Palestinian official.

Despite the divide, Blinken thanked the other officials for their partnership.

"We appreciate the engagement of every country, and we're particularly grateful to Jordan and to Egypt," said Blinken, noting that both countries have "long worked toward a two-state solution," which he later called "the sole viable solution" to the overarching conflict.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow and Shannon K. Crawford

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