As the conflict rages in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been urged by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to utilize his current Middle East visit to put an end to Israel’s “aggression.”
Friday marked the arrival of the senior US ambassador in Turkey, where he will be visiting numerous Gulf states, Israel, and the occupied West Bank.
According to US sources, Blinken, who is on his fourth regional tour since Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, will focus on getting additional aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, which is run by the Palestinian militant group.
Haniyeh also urged regional leaders due to meet Blinken to tell him that stability in the Middle East was “closely linked to our Palestinian cause”.
The United States is Israel’s chief military and political backer and has repeatedly refused to support calls for a ceasefire.
However, Washington has lent its support to humanitarian pauses and backed a UN Security Council resolution demanding more aid be let into Gaza.
The war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to official figures.
Israel responded by bombarding the territory and sending in ground forces, killing at least 22,722 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza
