Just as the truce is about to end, the US Secretary of State arrives in Israel

The truce between Israel and Hamas is about to end when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Israel. 

According to Blinken, his main goal is to keep the ceasefire in Gaza in place "so that we continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in."

“We'd like to see the pause extended because what it has enabled, first and foremost is hostages being released and being united with their families,” Blinken said. “It's also enabled us to surge humanitarian assistance into the people of Gaza who so desperately need it. So, its continuation, by definition means that more hostages would be coming home, more assistance would be getting in.”

According to the top US diplomat, Israel wants the pause to be extended because "they're also intensely focused on bringing people home." He stated that he would bring up the matter in his upcoming meetings with Israeli officials.

At a Colorado event, President Joe Biden added that he discussed the upcoming release of hostages by Hamas with members of his national security team.