Blinken will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. On Friday Blinken will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman.

Also on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian began a trip to Iraq and a series of countries in the region to discuss measures to end the fighting in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with representatives of the Hamas movement to promote the release of hostages captured by Hamas during the surprise weekend attack in Israel.