Blinken sees 'encouraging signs' on reaching Gaza ceasefire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that he saw encouraging signs of progress toward a ceasefire in Gaza, urging Turkiye to use its influence to encourage Hamas to accept.Blinken also discussed efforts toward a Gaza ceasefire when he arrived in Jordan on Thursday.

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State said "We discussed Gaza, and we discussed, I think, the opportunity to finally try to complete the hostage ceasefire agreement, to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire in place. And what we've seen in the last couple of weeks are more encouraging signs that that is possible."

It is Blinken’s 12thvisit to the Middle East since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.