Blinken to visit Middle East again to advocate for Gaza ceasefire

(Patria) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East next week, the U.S. State Department said on Friday, as Washington tries to pressure Israel and Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal that President Joe Biden put forward last week.

On his eighth visit to the region since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, sparking the latest flare-up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the top U.S. diplomat will visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar and meet with their leaders, Reuters reports.

Blinken's visit comes after Biden put forward a new ceasefire plan to end the eight-month war and as tensions between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah have escalated in recent days, with both sides signaling readiness for a wider 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, allow for a massive increase in humanitarian assistance, and enable Palestinians to return to their neighborhoods," it added.

The ceasefire, the State Department said, would also unlock the possibility of achieving peace along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and set the stage for further integration between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel was prepared for action in the north. He said in December that Beirut would be turned into Gaza if Hezbollah started an all-out war.

The Israel-Hamas war began when Palestinian fighters led by Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza has led to mass starvation and killed more than 36,000 people.