Abbas to Blinken: We reject the forced displacement of our people in Gaza

RAMALLAH - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman on Friday that he "rejects the forced displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

He said such an event would constitute a "second Nakba", referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, adding that humanitarian corridors must be allowed in the blockaded coastal enclave immediately to prevent a humanitarian disaster, the report said. 

Blinken also met with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman, the second stop of his most extensive Middle East tour yet as Israel prepares for a sweeping ground offensive in Gaza, and he urged people in Gaza city to evacuate to the south.

His demand, which the United Nations said would be impossible to carry out “without devastating humanitarian consequences”, comes a day after Blinken visited Israel and held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the conflict.