Former US secretary of state Antony Blinken argued Monday that the growing number of Western countries planning to recognize a Palestinian state in September are well-intentioned but are going about the effort in the wrong way.

“With the Gaza crisis still unfolding, this focus on recognition seems totally beside the more pressing realities. Amid the suffering of Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages—and Israel’s announced plan to occupy all or part of the enclave—averting famine, recovering the hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza are the priorities. Talk of two states can wait,” he wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.