US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed today that there will be no peace in the Middle East region without an independent Palestinian state. Blinken told reporters: 'When the major military operation (in Gaza) ends, we need to establish a strong, long-term peace, and we must work on that.' He added: 'From our point of view, and I think from the point of view of many people in the world, this should lead to the existence of a Palestinian state. We will not have a strong peace. There will be no reliable security for Israel until it is achieved.' He pointed out that "Israel faces a serious threat and needs to carry out this operation in order to be sure that a repeat of the Hamas attack will be an issue." Source: National News Agency - Lebanon