US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Sunday that the war in Gaza could spread and threaten security in the wider Middle East, during a regional tour aimed at de-escalating the conflict.
“This is a moment of deep tension in the region. This is a conflict that could easily metastasize and cause even more insecurity and more suffering,” Blinken told a news conference in Doha alongside Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The war began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in some 1,140 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
The Hamas members also took about 250 hostages, of whom Israel says 132 are still in captivity. At least 24 deaths are believed to have occurred.
In response, Israel carried out a brutal bombardment and ground invasion that killed at least 22,835 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, in Hamas-held territory, according to the Health Ministry.
Blinken warned that it was “imperative” that Israel “place a premium on the protection of civilians,” and ensure operations were “designed around the protection of civilians… and around getting humanitarian assistance where people need it.”
Amid the deepening humanitarian crisis and mass displacement in Gaza, Blinken said citizens “must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow.”
“They cannot and should not be pressured to leave Gaza,” he added, after two Israeli ministers suggested Palestinians should be encouraged to emigrate.
Blinken called the deaths of two Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, which the Qatar-based network blames on Israel, an “unimaginable tragedy.”
“That has also been the case for… far too many innocent Palestinian men, women and children,” he said.
Blinken arrived in Qatar after stops in Jordan, Turkey and Greece.
He left for Abu Dhabi late on Sunday and will travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Blinken will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi desert city of Al-Ula, a US official said on condition of anonymity.
Qatar, a prosperous Gulf emirate that hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, is also home to Hamas' political office and is the main residence of the Islamists' self-exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Qatar's prime minister said talks with Hamas on a new ceasefire in Gaza are “ongoing” with US support.
Doha brought a week-long pause in the fighting that began in November and led to the release of dozens of Israeli and foreign hostages and aid flowing into the besieged Gaza Strip.
However, Sheikh Mohammed said that an attack on Tuesday in Lebanon that killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri had affected “the complicated process.”
“Yet we are not giving up. We are moving forward.”