The American Secretary of State is visiting Ankara today and tomorrow Anthony Blinken after yesterday’s visit to Jordan where he had a meeting with his counterparts from the states of the region.

Blinken rejected a proposal by foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar for a cease-fire in Gaza and instead called once again for “humanitarian pauses” in aid to Gaza .

The foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt said an immediate ceasefire was vital, but Blinken countered that it would leave Hamas in its place, able to regroup and attack Israel again. In addition, the US Secretary of State announced that the US and Arab states agree that the status quo of a Hamas-controlled Gaza cannot continue and that he has discussed with his Arab counterparts how to chart a path to a two-state solution.

Blinken is visiting Turkey today and tomorrow in the heavy shadow of the statements of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who stated that cuts off all conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahudue to Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Ankara yesterday she also recalled her ambassador from Tel Aviv for consultations in relation to Gaza.

In a statement, Turkey’s foreign ministry said it had recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv, Sakir Ozkan, “for consultations” in response to the fact that “the Israeli side does not accept calls for a ceasefire, continues attacks on civilians and does not allow the uninterrupted and continuous flow of humanitarian aid”.

The State Department did not confirm in its statement Blinken’s meeting with the Turkish president even though it seems likely, according to people close to him.

In Ankara, the head of US diplomacy will also discuss Ukraine and the finalization of Sweden’s NATO membership, which Turkey has long blocked, according to the same source.

Speaking at a news conference in Amman alongside his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts, who have repeatedly called for an immediate end to hostilities, Blinken also said Washington was concerned about violence by extremist settlers in the West Bank.

The head of US diplomacy reiterated that the United States supported “humanitarian pauses” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but rejected calls for a “ceasefire” by Arab countries.

“The United States believes that all of these efforts will be facilitated by these humanitarian pauses,” Blinken said of efforts to save Palestinian civilians and speed up the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.

The US Secretary of State reiterated that the United States believes that such a ceasefire would “keep Hamas in place” and allow it to regroup its forces and carry out attacks similar to the one on October 7.

“Israel must take all necessary measures to protect Palestinian civilians,” he said while confirming that Israel had the right and obligation to defend itself after the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamic movement on October 7.

This attack killed more than 1,400 people and is the bloodiest in Israel’s history.