Blinken stressed the “urgent need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza” that could release hostages held in the enclave and “create the conditions for broader regional stability,” the State Department added.
A day earlier, Gallant spoke to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the situation in the region.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gaza health ministry says that since then Israel’s military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies.
President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have consistently run into obstacles.
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