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Blinken in Saudi Arabia for fifth Middle East tour, seeks Gaza ceasefire

The tour marks US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's fifth trip to the Middle East region since Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following a Hamas attack on October 7.

AP

Blinken will also visit Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the occupied West Bank as part of the tour. / Photo: AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Saudi Arabia for another Middle East crisis tour, hoping to secure a truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

On his fifth trip to the region since October 7, Blinken landed in Riyadh on Monday and was later expected to visit Israel and mediators Egypt and Qatar.

Ahead of the trip, he stressed the need for "urgently addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza", after aid groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the devastating impact nearly four months of Israeli attacks have had on the besieged enclave.

"The situation is indescribable," said Said Hamouda, a Palestinian who fled his home to the southern Gaza city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.

Dubbed a "pressure cooker of despair" by the United Nations, Rafah now hosts more than half of Gaza's population, displaced due to Israel's assault.

Dozens protest outside Blinken, Herzog meeting in Tel Aviv

Diplomatic push

Blinken is expected to discuss a truce framework not yet signed off on by either Hamas or Israel.

The proposed truce would pause fighting for an initial six weeks as Hamas releases hostages in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel and more aid enters Gaza, according to a Hamas source.

On Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced divisions within his cabinet and public fury over the fate of the remaining hostages, said Israel "will not accept" demands made by Hamas for an exchange.

The premier's Likud party quoted him as saying the terms "should be similar to the previous agreement", which saw a ratio of captives exchanged for Palestinian prisoners during a November truce.

At least 27,478 Palestinians have been killed and 66,835 others injured in Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza since October 7, according to local health authorities.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 Israelis remained in Hamas captivity.

The Israeli offensive has left 85 percent of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.