US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken kicked off his visit to the Middle East with a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
With concerns mounting that the Israel-Hamas war is expanding into a broader regional crisis, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken kicked off his fourth urgent visit to the Middle East in just three months on Saturday with a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The pair discussed strategies for containing the conflict in the Gaza Strip and other ways of promoting “lasting regional peace,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told NBC News.
Turkey is a NATO member and a key US ally, Erdoğan has been critical of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent weeks.
During the face-to-face, Blinken underscored the need to “prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, expand humanitarian assistance and reduce civilian casualties,” as well as the need for a “Palestinian state,” Miller said.
After the meeting with Erdoğan, Blinken left Turkey for Crete, where he was scheduled to meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
He is also slated to stop in Jordan, Qatar, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, the West Bank, and Egypt as he attempts to find diplomatic solutions for the widening Middle East violence.
But despite international efforts, signs of the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading were clear on Saturday morning, as Hezbollah launched a volley of rockets into northern Israel from Lebanon.
The terror group claimed it launched 62 rockets, and made direct hits in the direction of the Israeli surveillance base on Mount Meron, along with two Israeli army bases near the Israel-Lebanon border.
Israeli forces, however, said that 40 rockets were fired and made no mention of the Meron area being hit.
The rocket attack came one day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on the group to avenge the death of Hamas political leader Saleh al-Arouri, believed to be the architect of the Oct.
