Now in its fourth month, the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip could "metastasize", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Sunday in Doha, Qatar, as he toured the region to try to avoid a conflagration in the Middle East.
While his country is Israel's main political and military backer, he said it was "imperative" for Israel to do more to protect displaced Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, who should be able to "return home."
"This is a time of deep tension in the region. It is a conflict that could easily metastasize, causing even more insecurity and suffering," he told a news conference alongside Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
"Do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza"
With the death toll now exceeding 22,800 in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas government, the US secretary of state said he would raise with Israeli officials "the imperative to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
"As operations are scaled back, it will certainly be easier to ensure that civilians are not affected and that more aid can be delivered," he added. Blinken also reiterated his rejection of statements by Israeli ministers advocating a return of Jewish settlers to Gaza, saying that "Palestinian civilians (must) be allowed to return to their homes as soon as conditions allow."
Death of two Qatari reporters: 'An unimaginable tragedy'
He also said he was "deeply sorry" for the deaths of two Al Jazeera journalists killed Sunday in a strike blamed on Israel. "This is an unimaginable tragedy," he said. Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with Al Jazeera, and his colleague Moustafa Thuraya, a freelance videographer who worked with the Qatari channel and collaborated with AFP and other international media, were killed while driving in a car on the southern tip of the Palestinian territory.
VIDEO. Wael Al-Dahdouh, Gaza's 'grieving journalist', loses another of his children in an airstrike
The Qatari prime minister said on Sunday that his country was continuing its efforts to reach a new truce, even though the assassination of Hamas' second-in-command in Beirut had affected "the complicated process." But "we are not giving up," he added.
After Jordan and Qatar, the US Secretary of State arrived in Abu Dhabi in the evening, the new stop on his regional tour, from where he will then travel to Saudi Arabia.