JERUSALEM, May 2 -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, pushing to get more aid into Gaza, while urging Hamas to accept a deal that would halt fighting and bring some hostages home from the enclave.
Israel is the final stop on the top US diplomat's Middle East tour, his seventh visit to the region which was plunged into conflict on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel.
Illustrating the trip's humanitarian focus, Blinken will visit Ashdod port in the south, which has recently started receiving aid for Gaza. He will ask Israel's government to take a set of specific steps to facilitate aid to Gaza, where nearly half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger.
During a m...