It will be the 11th trip to the Middle East by the top US diplomat since war broke out a year ago, with Blinken on his last visit to Israel in August warning it may have been the "last chance" for a US-led ceasefire plan.

That push did not succeed, and the war has escalated and expanded since then, with Israel pounding Lebanon and warning of a new strike directly on Iran.

US President Joe Biden, who personally laid out the ceasefire plan on May 31 that would also free captives from Gaza, has seen new hope since the death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in gun battle wit Israeli forces in Gaza.

The Israeli brutal war on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 42,603 people, most of them women and children, with over 99,795 others wounded.

Israel expanded its military operations to Lebanon, where it killed at least 2,367 people since October 2023, two thirds of them killed in the last month, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

​Blinken's trip comes days after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Israel that the United States could withhold some of its billions of dollars in military aid unless more humanitarian assistance is allowed into Gaza, where the UN warns more than 1.8 million people are facing "extreme hunger."

US election implications 
 

A breakthrough could be a major boost for US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running in a razor-tight November 5 race for the White House against Donald Trump.

The war has been a political albatross for Biden and to an extent Harris, his political heir, with Netanyahu repeatedly brushing aside US entreaties to do more to spare civilians.

Trump also spoke to Netanyahu and suggested he would give freer rein, telling reporters that Biden was "trying to hold him back and he probably should be doing the opposite."

Trump staunchly backed Israel in his first term. He has a complicated relationship with Netanyahu but Republican voters, unlike Democrats, are overwhelmingly supportive of Israel and Netanyahu.

Seeing ways forward 
 

Blinken is set to fly first to Israel and then tour other countries in the Middle East through Friday.

The State Department did not list his other stops but on previous trips he has visited a number of Arab countries, especially Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries in ceasefire negotiations.

Blinken "will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all captives and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people," a State Department statement said.

It said Blinken would also discuss post-war arrangements critical for a peace deal and seek a "diplomatic resolution" in Lebanon, where the United States has stopped short of urging an immediate ceasefire.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.