US secretary of state expected to urge effort to minimise harm to civilians as Israel’s military continues operation to encircle key city in Palestinian territory
- Israel-Hamas war: live updates
US secretary of state Antony Blinken was due in Israel on Friday and was expected to call for localised pauses in fighting to allow aid into Gaza, as Israel’s military said it had surrounded the Palestinian territory’s biggest city and was moving further into the centre and fighting in close quarters.
As Blinken left Washington, he said he would discuss concrete steps to minimise harm to civilians in Gaza when he holds talks with Benjamin Netanyahu. It is his second meeting with Israel’s prime minister since the war began nearly a month ago, when Hamas militants killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.
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