US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday that Washingtonwould provide aid for rebuilding Gaza that faced massive Israelibombardment before Tel Aviv and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement.

Blinken, who is in the region on Middle East mission, also pledged toinitiate the process for reopening of Jerusalem consulate for Palestinians,around two years after it was closed by former president Donald Trump’sadministration, a move that angered Palestine.

The consulate had served as only diplomatic channel of US to thePalestinians.

The state secretary was speaking alongside Palestinian President MahmoudAbbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He said the United States would provide an additional $75 million indevelopment and economic aid to the Palestinians in 2021, $5.5 million inimmediate disaster relief for Gaza and $32 million to UN Palestinian aidagency.

He added that Washington intended to ensure that Hamas, did not benefitfrom the humanitarian aid.

The US official began his regional visit in Jerusalem, where he held talkswith Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who while talking toreporters threatened that a “very powerful response” will be given if Hamasfired rockets.

The ceasefire truce, brokered by Egypt and coordinated with the UnitedStates, came into effect on Friday after 11 days of the worst violence byIsrael against Palestinians in years.

“We know that to prevent a return to violence we have to use the spacecreated to address a larger set of underlying issues and challenges,”Blinken said.

“And that begins with tackling the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza andstarting to rebuild.”

Blinken further said reopening the US Consulate General in Jerusalem wouldbe “an important way for our country to engage with and provide support tothe Palestinian people”.

The Trump administration had merged the consulate with the US Embassy inIsrael in 2019, two years after it recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capitaland later shifting the embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Palestinian PM Abbas thanked the US “for its commitment to the two-statesolution (and maintaining) the status quo on the Haram al-Sharif”.

Abbas also thanked Blinken for what he called American support “for thepreservation of (Palestinian) residents of … Sheikh Jarrah,” an EastJerusalem neighbourhood where Palestinians faced forceful eviction that ledto violence in Al-Aqsa Mosque and then in Gaza.

Soon after the Blinken-Netanyahu press conference, Turkish news channel TRTWorld fact-checked what the Israeli prime minister and the US secretary ofstate said about the latest Israeli bombing of Palestinian cities.