Blinken will make stops in occupied Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar, the White House said, where he will discuss with partners the need to reach a cease-fire agreement that secures the release of all captives, CBS News reported.
The announcement comes just one day after international scrutiny over an Israeli airstrike on a school in the central Gaza refugee camp of Nuseirat, where thousands of Palestinian civilians had been sheltering. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, said at least 35 people were killed in the strike.
This is the eighth visit of the US Secretary of State to the region after the start of the Gaza war.
Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Israel has imposed a complete siege on the densely populated territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.