(VOVWORLD) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday as part of a Middle East tour to show Washington's solidarity with Israel after the attacks by Palestinian Hamas militants and to work to prevent the conflict from widening.
Blinken will also try to help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas — some of whom are Americans — and advance talks with Israelis and Egyptians on providing a safe passage of Gaza civilians out of the enclave before a possible Israeli ground invasion.
After Israel, Blinken will head to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Blinken's trip comes as Israel has unleashed the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, vowing to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip in retribution for the attacks.
Israel has put Gaza under siege to stop food and fuel reaching the enclave of 2.3 million people.
Hamas gunmen rampaged through Israeli towns over the weekend, killing 1,200 people and taking scores of hostages to Gaza.
Israel has retaliated with air strikes that have killed more than 1,100 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Israeli military said its troops had killed at least 1,000 Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated from Gaza.