Blinken crossed Israeli checkpoints to reach the de facto Palestinian capital Ramallah, according to pool reporters who travelled with the US top diplomat.

The visit came a day after talks yesterday with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet over the war with Hamas, regional tensions, and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Blinken would discuss with Abbas the PA’s responsibility to reform itself and improve its governance, he said in a news conference yesterday evening, reflecting Washington’s view that Abbas, 88, needs to overhaul the organisation in preparation to govern a post-war Gaza.

The PA, which exercises limited self-rule in some areas of the occupied West Bank, remains the best hope for a unified Palestinian government of both Gaza and the West Bank.

Blinken came to Israel after visiting Washington’s Arab allies, who he said wanted closer relations with Israel but only if that included a “practical pathway” to a Palestinian state.

US-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in the territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago. Right-wing leaders in Israel’s current ruling coalition oppose Palestinian statehood.

At his news conference, Blinken declined to characterise how Netanyahu and his cabinet responded to his appeal on a Palestinian state. He said Israel would have to make “hard decisions, hard choices” to take advantage of the opportunity offered by regional integration.

“Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it harder, not easier for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security,” he said, alluding to conflict in the West Bank.