Antony Blinken

Blinken will also meet with senior government officials to discuss issues including the Indo-Pacific, the AUKUS defense pact between the US, Australia, Britain and the Middle East.

IDF uncovers explosive lab under Jenin mosque • Anti-tank missiles strike Metula • Blinken says 90% of Gaza hostage deal is agreed •

Blinken also affirmed that if the IDF would indeed launch such a strike, Israel should not use it to broaden its attack on the terror group.

Readers of The Jerusalem Post have their say.

Both during Blinken's visit and in its aftermath, Netanyahu insisted that the IDF must remain in two critical security corridors in Gaza.

There is a “fierce urgency” to get this "done in the days ahead, and we will do everything possible to get it across the finish line,” Blinken told reporters after visiting Israel, Egypt, and Qatar.

Families of Israeli hostages met Blinken and Netanyahu, expressing mixed feelings about progress in negotiations with Hamas.

Netanyahu put out a similar statement in the aftermath of their three-hour meeting in Jerusalem earlier in the day.

Blinken is in Israel to advance a hostage deal with the hope of holding an end-game set of talks in Cairo at the end of the week.

"This is the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,"