Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Gaza is integral to Palestinian statehood hopes and should not be cut off as a result of Israel’s war with Hamas, Reuters reports citing an official statement.

The statement, published by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, further quoted Abbas as saying that Palestinians must not be displaced from Gaza or the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where he wields limited governance following a 2007 schism with Hamas.

Abbas further called for the “convening an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which achieves peace and security for all,” according to Wafa.