![](https://focus.independent.ie/thumbor/ARD1aZ39ajA7b_kkRRjOII39GDw=/720x0/smart/prod-mh-ireland/4c918a40-91ce-429e-b9ca-eae38ee6c502/db0d8659-5e82-4b0c-951c-4ddb8907bfe9/4c918a40-91ce-429e-b9ca-eae38ee6c502.jpg?# )
US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas about reforming the Palestinian self-rule government, as part of efforts to ally the region behind post-war plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.