Blinken to travel to Middle East to urge Gaza ceasefire

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the Middle East next week, the State Department said on Friday, as Washington seeks to pressure Israel and Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal made last week by President Joe Biden.

It is the eighth visit by the top U.S. diplomat to the region since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, sparking the latest flare-up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and he will visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar and meet with top leaders from those countries.

Blinken’s visit came after Biden proposed a new ceasefire to end the eight-month-old war and came as tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have escalated in recent days, with both sides saying they were ready for a larger confrontation.

“The secretary will discuss how the ceasefire proposal would benefit both Israelis and Palestinians,” the State Department said in a statement. “He will emphasize that it would alleviate suffering in Gaza, enable a significant increase in humanitarian aid, and allow Palestinians to return to their communities.”

Ceasefire talks between Israel and Gaza war militant Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar and other countries, have repeatedly stalled, with each side accusing the other of failing to make progress.

The U.S. State Department said the ceasefire would also bring about the possibility of achieving calm on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and create conditions for further integration between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

It added: “The secretary of state will also continue to reiterate the need to prevent further escalation of the conflict.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel was prepared to take tough action in the north. He warned in December that Beirut would become “Gaza” if Hezbollah launched an all-out war.

The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics.

Israel’s ground and air assault on Gaza has reduced the region to ruins, sparked widespread famine and killed more than 36,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

While in Jordan, Blinken will attend meetings on the humanitarian response to Gaza, the State Department said.