(VOVWORLD) - The United States' top diplomat Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Friday to push or humanitarian pauses in the Gaza conflict as Israel said it had surrounded the Palestinian enclave's biggest city and the focus of its drive to annihilate Hamas.
 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks to reporters prior to boarding his aircraft at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on his way to the Middle East and Asia, November 2, 2023. (Photo: AFP/Yonhap) |
Blinken, on his second trip to Israel in a month, is due to discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders concrete steps to minimise harm to civilians in besieged Gaza, where food, fuel, water and medicine are scarce.
The White House, meanwhile, said any pauses in fighting should be temporary and localised, and insisted they would not stop Israel defending itself.
The Israel Defense Forces, in a statement on Friday, said its jets, artillery and navy had struck Hamas targets overnight, killing several militants including Mustafa Dalul, a Hamas commander it said had directed combat in the Gaza Strip.