US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Israel must do more to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
In Riyadh, during his seventh visit to the Middle East since the beginning of the war in Gaza, he said that he would put pressure on Israeli officials in this regard.
The best way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, he added, would be to conclude a cease-fire agreement.
Hamas, Blinken said, has been presented with an "extremely generous" offer from Israel and hopes to accept it.
"Hamas has before it a proposal from Israel that is extremely, extremely generous and at this moment the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas," he said at the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia.
He said that now it is up to Hamas to decide and that they should do it as soon as possible.
Hamas has so far rejected several proposals in the negotiations mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, and to which Israel agreed.
Blinken told the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Gulf countries earlier today that there is no need to wait for a ceasefire to improve conditions in Gaza.
"There has been measurable progress in the past few weeks, including the opening of new crossings and an increased volume of aid deliveries to Gaza, as well as the construction of the US maritime corridor, which will open next week," he said.
(Beta)
At least 34.488 Palestinians have been killed and 77.643 wounded in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza since October 7, according to a statement from the Gaza Ministry of Health, Reuters reports.
In the last 24 hours, 34 were killed and 68 were injured, the statement added.
In Israeli airstrikes on the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, 22 people died, including six women and five children, the youngest of whom was only five days old, Palestinian health officials announced today.
Three family houses were hit in the strikes during the night.
The first strike killed 12 people, including four siblings between the ages of nine and 27, according to records at the Abu Yusef al-Najjar hospital, where their bodies were taken.
Seven people were killed in the second strike, including a father and his five-day-old boy, and three siblings were killed in the third strike.
Israel blames Hamas for the large number of civilian deaths as its members fight in densely populated areas.
Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and is threatening to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is Hamas' last major stronghold in the coastal enclave.
Over a million Palestinians have fled to that city, which is located on the Egyptian border. The US and other countries urged Israel not to carry out the planned attack, fearing a humanitarian disaster.
(BETA)
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has entered its 206th day.
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