Visit Mondoweiss (https://mondoweiss.net​​​​) for critical coverage of Israel, Palestine, and related U.S. politics. Support our work with a tax-deductible donation: https://mondoweiss.net/donate/​ Subscribe to our free newsletters covering daily headlines, weekly politics updates, and tracking COVID-19 in Palestine: https://mondoweiss.net/newsletters/ - - - - - Transcript: QUESTION: Thank you, Ned. A couple days ago, Secretary Blinken spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Ashkenazi, but he has not – maybe for the third time. I think this was his third conversation with him as Secretary of State. He has not spoken to any Palestinian leader. Why is that? Why has he not reached out to Dr. Riyad Maliki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority? MR PRICE: Well, we have been clear that it is a priority of this administration to engage the Palestinian people as well as the Palestinian leadership. And we’ve talked about resuming assistance to the Palestinian people and the priority that we attach to it. Just the other week, of course, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced $15 million in humanitarian assistance to provide relief to Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza who are currently suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to provide assistance to benefit all Palestinians, including refugees, and we’re determining at the moment how to move forward with that. Look, I would fully expect that there will continue to be engagement with the Palestinian people and Palestinian leaders as well. QUESTION: Are you engaging with any Palestinians? I mean, what level of engagement do you have right now? MR PRICE: Yeah, I – we typically don’t read out conversations at the working level, but certainly we are prepared to continue to engage the Palestinians, including Palestinian government officials, on ways we can provide assistance to the Palestinian people. QUESTION: So during the campaign, there were unambiguous statements by – by candidate Joe Biden then about resuming aid to UNRWA and so on. We have not heard anything since the administration has assumed office, and — MR PRICE: Well, that’s not true. That’s not true. Of course, you heard from — QUESTION: On UNRWA. On UNRWA. I know that there’s been aid for – to combat COVID. There’s probably been an increase in aid to the PA. But on UNRWA, there has not been any clear messaging. MR PRICE: It is certainly true – it remains true today – that we intend to provide assistance that will benefit all Palestinians. We’ve – Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield spoke to that the other week, and that includes, of course, refugees. We’re in the process — QUESTION: You keep saying “refugees,” but UNRWA is — MR PRICE: We a ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI9paQ9QLFE