DAVOS, Switzerland: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Israel cannot achieve "genuine security" without a pathway to the formation of a Palestinian state, insisting that such a move could help unify the Middle East and isolate Israel's top rival, Iran.

TWO-STATE SOLUTION United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures during his speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in the ski resort town of Davos, eastern Switzerland on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. AP PHOTO

At the World Economic Forum's annual summit in the eastern Swiss resort town of Davos, the top US diplomat said the view of leaders in the Arab and Muslim world had changed on Israel and that creating a Palestinian state would help Israel integrate into the region.

"The problem is getting from here to there, and of course, it requires very difficult, challenging decisions. It requires a mindset that is open to that perspective," Blinken said.

President Joe Biden's administration has been at pains to navigate between longtime US support for Israel and growing concerns that too many Palestinian civilians have been killed or injured in Israel's war against Hamas militants since their deadly October 7 cross-border raids into southern Israel.

Blinken reiterated the need for a "pathway to a Palestinian state" and said Israel would not "get genuine security absent that."

His remarks come as Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that fighting could intensify in the region if Israel didn't end its campaign.

"Today, we are witnessing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, this means that war is ongoing, so there is possibility of extension," Amir-Abdollahian said in a separate question-and-answer session.

With a barrage of attacks beyond the Palestinian territories in recent days heightening fears of a broader war in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on a Davos panel on Tuesday that the kingdom agreed that "regional peace includes peace for Israel," adding that Riyadh would "certainly" recognize Israel as part of a larger political agreement.

"But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a right-wing government that is opposed to Palestinian statehood, and the premier himself recently said his actions over the years prevented the formation of such a state.

Mohammad Mustafa, chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund who is believed to be a candidate for a future leadership position in the Palestinian Authority, said the international community had to "move fast and boldly to stop this aggression."

He said the first step was getting food, water, medicine, and other aid into Gaza to prevent hunger from causing more deaths, then pivot to what he calls the root problem: occupation.

"Occupation cannot continue," Mustafa said. "No people will accept to be oppressed the way Palestinian people have been oppressed."

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