As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza would allow Hamas to regroup and carry out further attacks.
But he added that Israel had to take “every possible measure” to prevent civilian casualties in the enclave.
Mr Blinken made the comments on Saturday in Jordan after holding talks with Arab leaders, who want an immediate halt to the fighting. They have accused Israel of committing war crimes.
“We don’t accept that it is self-defence,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said at a news conference with Mr Blinken following the talks, which also involved Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
The US continues to support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas.
Mr Safadi described the conflict as a “raging war that is killing civilians, destroying their homes, their hospitals, their schools, their mosques and their churches.”
There have been concerns that the war could draw in other regional actors and lead to the destabilisation of the Middle East.
Mr Blinken, who has been calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting instead of a ceasefire, said that while the US disagreed with Arab leaders on some of the means to achieve a lasting peace in the region, their goal was the same.
Israel began bombing Gaza after Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in Israel in surprise attacks on 7 October. More than 200 people were kidnapped and the majority are still thought to be being held as hostages.
Mr Blinken’s trip to Jordan comes a day after he visited Israel to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said there would be no humanitarian pause until all Israeli hostages are released.
Mr Blinken will travel to Turkey on Sunday for two days to speak with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the conflict.
The visit comes after Ankara recalled its ambassador to Israel and broke contact with Mr Netanyahu in protest against the bloodshed.
