Israel’s Mossad chief will travel to Qatar for ceasefire negotiations as Hamas signals readiness to halt fighting, contingent on Israel agreeing to withdraw from Gaza, enable aid access, and facilitate the return of displaced people.

Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold destroyed six buildings in the deadliest assault since the war began, despite U.S. calls for de-escalation amid rising tensions with Iran.

Lebanon says four people were killed including a child in the latest Israeli strikes as Tehran says the United States will bear "full responsibility" if Israel attacks Iran.

"So Israel has a clear and very legitimate interest in doing that. The people of Lebanon want the same thing. We believe that the best way to get there is through a diplomatic understanding, one that we've been working on for some time, and one that we focus on right...

Doha, Qatar - Top US diplomat Antony Blinken appealed Tuesday to Hamas urgently to accept a ceasefire plan to ease suffering in Gaza but also entered a public spat with Israel as he capped a new round of shuttle diplomacy. The US secretary of state closed his ninth wartime trip to...

Blinken, on his ninth visit to the Middle East since Hamas's October 7 attack triggered the war with Israel, said he had "a very constructive meeting" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who "confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal."

Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel in October, the US secretary of state is to meet Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders in a renewed bid to seal a deal that could help avert a wider conflagration.

Biden called King Abdullah II of Jordan, which helped down Iranian drones and missiles in an earlier showdown in April, while Blinken called top officials in Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Wednesday to talks in key mediator Qatar after Hamas gave a reply to a US-led proposal for a ceasefire in war-ravaged Gaza. Blinken, on a four-country swing around the Middle East to push Hamas to accept the truce proposal, will meet...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with key Israeli opposition figures on Tuesday, a day after he arrived in the country to push a ceasefire plan for the war in Gaza. His visit is part of a drive by the United States to secure a ceasefire in...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading back to the Middle East on Monday to push a ceasefire plan, but Israeli politics and silence from Hamas raised further questions on whether he can succeed. The top US diplomat is paying his eighth visit to the region since the war...

In a new diplomatic push, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and key regional partners Egypt, Jordan and Qatar from Monday on his eighth Middle East trip since the war began, the State Department said.

"In the absence of a plan for the day after, there won't be a day after. And this is where we need to go, and (what) we need to get, as quickly as possible," Blinken told reporters on a visit to Moldova. Such a plan would ensure that Israel is...

A Hamas official said the group would respond "within a very short period" to a plan proposed by mediators to halt the fighting for 40 days and to exchange dozens of hostages for many more Palestinian captives. But the group's aim remains an "end to this war", senior Hamas official...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed calls for Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal Wednesday as he started talks with Israel's leadership. "Even in these very difficult times we are determined to get a ceasefire that brings the hostages home -- and to get it now. And the only...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Riyadh comes nearly seven months after the eruption of war in Gaza put the brakes on what was intended as a signature foreign policy achievement for his boss, US President Joe Biden. It also comes as Americans prepare to vote in November...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had no indication of an "imminent" Israeli assault on the city, the last in the Gaza Strip yet to be the target of a ground invasion and where around 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.

"Of course, we stand with Israel and its right to defend itself... but at the same time, it's imperative that the civilians who are in harm's way and who are suffering so terribly -– that we focus on them, that we make them a priority, protecting the civilians, getting them...

Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, has never recognised Israel, though officials were considering doing so before the Hamas' October 7 attack. Israeli ground offensive has killed at least 27,840 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Israel without securing a pause in fighting, wrapping up his fifth crisis tour of the Middle East since the war started. In fact, Israeli PM said he has ordered troops to 'prepare to operate' in Rafah.

In Beirut, a senior Hamas official responded, saying Netanyahu's "insistence on continuing the aggression totally confirms that the goal... is genocide against the Palestinian people". The official, Osama Hamdan, urged "all resistance factions... to continue the fight" and to be cautious of Israeli "treachery during the final quarter-hour of this...

Hamas has for more than a week mulled the deal drawn up in its absence at Paris talks, as international pressure mounts to end the four-month war. Hamas said the proposal was aimed at "ending the aggression against our people, securing relief and shelter, reconstruction, lifting the siege on the...

On his fifth trip to the region since the war broke out, Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and mediators Egypt and Qatar. Ahead of the trip he stressed the need for "urgently addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza", after aid groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the devastating impact...

As Blinken wrapped up a whistlestop tour of the region, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard arguments in a landmark case accusing Israel of breaching the United Nations Genocide Convention. South Africa told the top UN court that Israel's bombing campaign of the besieged Gaza Strip justified a plausible...

The US secretary of state -- on his fourth Middle East tour since the war broke out -- was back in Israel on Tuesday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet, including opposition figure Benny Gantz. He also voiced hope that, after the war, Israel...

US top diplomat Antony Blinken also said all the leaders on his tour, which took him to six countries before heading to Israel, had agreed to work with the US to help Gaza's recovery and long-term stability. He was speaking after meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a lavish...

Blinken will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi desert city of Al-Ula, said a US official on condition of anonymity. Qatar, a wealthy Gulf emirate which hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, also hosts Hamas's political office and is the main residence...

Jordan's king urged Blinken to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the humanitarian crisis brought by three months of war. King Abdullah, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, also reaffirmed the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian question.

Annalena Baerbock will hold talks with Israel's new Foreign Minister Israel Katz, as well as President Isaac Herzog, foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press conference on Friday. She will also meet with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki.

Both the United Nations chief and the White House called for the break in fighting to be restored, and UN agencies warned of a "catastrophic" humanitarian situation as bombs fell and hospitals again struggled to cope with the wounded after a week-long respite.

"The United States believes key elements should include: no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, not now, not after the war; No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks; No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends," Blinken told reporters. He added that other conditions...

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu was suspended from government meetings "until further notice" for advocating dropping a nuclear bomb on besieged and devastated Gaza.

Gaza health ministry says 9,227 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardment and ground assaults. On Friday, Hamas said an Israeli strike hit a convoy of ambulances transporting the wounded from Gaza city towards Rafah in the south.

Washington, United States - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who arrived in Israel today on a diplomatic visit will address the pressing issue of minimizing harm to civilians in Gaza amid growing concern over casualties resulting from Israel's bombardment of the region, Reuters reported. During his visit, Blinken will...

"This is just the latest atrocity to befall the people of Gaza where the fighting has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly dreadful humanitarian consequences," UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said.

As relentless bombardment of Gaza continues, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Palestinian Authority should retake control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, with international players potentially filling a role in an interim.

The three countries are additional stops on his visit that included meetings with King of Jordan and Mahmud Abbas. Blinken said he raised with Israel the humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip, while pledging unwavering support to Israel.

New York, United States -- At a meeting on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of Iraq respecting the sovereignty of Kuwait. The ministers underscored the...

Blinken opened the day by meeting China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, whose position in the Communist Party ranks above the foreign minister. Returning to the ornate state guesthouse in the ancient Diaoyutai gardens where Sunday's talks took place, Blinken and Wang offered polite smiles before the cameras and exchanged pleasantries...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Riyadh and Washington urged Western governments Thursday to repatriate citizens who joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, where thousands still languish in prisons or camps. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said it was "disheartening and absolutely unacceptable" that some wealthy countries had not...

In a telephonic conversation with UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Blinken urged calm during the coming holiday seasons across the Middle East region. They discussed bilateral and regional issues, including “our shared commitment to peace in Yemen”, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant...

Under a landmark deal struck in 2015, Iran agreed to mothball the Fordo plant and limit its enrichment of uranium to 3.67 percent, sufficient for most civilian uses, as part of a package of restrictions on its nuclear activities aimed at preventing it covertly developing a nuclear weapon. In return,...

"Defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is about much more than standing up for one nation’s right to choose its own path, fundamental as that right is.  It’s also about protecting an international order where no nation can redraw the borders of another by force," he adds.

Over 100 countries have signed on to the Roadmap for Global Food Security. Many are already acting on those commitments. Action is crucial because the current crisis is one that no individual country or even group of countries can solve alone. We have to get emergency aid to the people...

Iran's latest reply on a nuclear deal is a step "backwards," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, insisting Washington would not rush to rejoin at any cost. European mediators last month appeared to make progress in restoring the 2015 accord as Iran largely agreed to a proposed final...

Harris, whose team includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA chief William Burns, is heading the strongest delegation to visit UAE since President Joe Biden took office last year.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Israel and Palestinians to “end the cycle of violence”, amid rising tensions between the two sides. Mr Blinken called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid separately on Tuesday.

Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the new MoU for the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is having a "deadly" impact in the Arab world, particularly through spiralling wheat prices, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Algiers Wednesday. He was speaking on the final leg of a trip that began with an unprecedented Israeli-Arab summit in the Negev desert, attended...

The $23 billion arms package was pushed through by former president Donald Trump in what was seen as a reward for the United Arab Emirates' recognition of Israel, but his successor Joe Biden has pledged greater oversight over the planes. The Gulf state threatened to dump the agreement Tuesday over...