US State Secretary Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli leaders, the first stop of a wider Middle East tour to launch another push for an elusive ceasefire.
The top US diplomat's latest trip - his 11th to the region since Palestinian Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on October 7 of last year, triggering the Israel-Hamas War - comes as the IDF has intensified its campaign in the Palestinian enclave as well as in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Blinken will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and other officials during the day as part of a week-long Middle East visit that also includes Jordan and Qatar.
Blinken will underscore that additional food, medicine, and other humanitarian aid must be delivered to civilians in Gaza and discuss securing the release of the remaining hostages.
Diplomatic efforts failing
Diplomatic efforts have thus far failed to bring an end to the year-long Israel-Hamas War and its spillover conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which has intensified in recent weeks after a year of exchanging fire mostly across Lebanon's southern border.
He will discuss the need to reach a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that "fully implements UN Security Council Resolution 1701."
Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report. This is a developing story.