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“That has to start now with dealing with the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza. Then reconstruction, rebuilding what’s been lost and, critically, engaging both sides in trying to start to make real improvements in the lives of people so that Israelis and Palestinians can live with equal measures of security, of peace and of dignity,” he said.
Pressed by Stephanopoulos about his emphasis on the word “equal,” which he noted marked a broader rhetorical departure by the Biden administration from its predecessors, Blinken said equality should be the goal of any government in a democratic society.
“It’s vitally important that Palestinians feel hope and have opportunity, and can live in security just as it is for Israelis, and there should be equal measures,” he said.
He added: “Ultimately I think that that hope, that security, that dignity will be found in a Palestinian state.” (Blinken emphasized the same words in a subsequent appearance on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”)
Blinken said rebuilding the damage in Gaza would be an important step toward resolving the conflict. Asked how the U.S. planned to support the rebuilding without funding Hamas, Blinken said it would rely on “independent parties that can help do the reconstruction and the development. Not some quasi-government authority,” which he said “has brought nothing but ruin to the Palestinian people.”
“What’s the real challenge here is to help the Palestinians and particularly to help moderate Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority deliver better results for their people, and of course, Israel has a profound role to play in that too.”
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