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During a visit to the Philippines, Blinken said his trip to meet
senior leaders in Saudia Arabia and Egypt would aim to "discuss
the right architecture for lasting regional peace".
Providing more humanitarian aid into Gaza as well as discussing
post-war planning for the enclave are among the topics he will
discuss with Saudi and Egyptian officials.
"One hundred percent of the Gaza population is in need of
humanitarian assistance," Blinken said, adding that it was
"absolutely incumbent" upon Israel to prioritise assistance for
those in desperate need.
Extreme shortages of food in parts of the Gaza Strip have
already exceeded famine levels, and mass death is now imminent
without an immediate ceasefire and surge of food to areas cut
off by fighting, global hunger monitor Integrated Food-Security
Phase Classification has said.
"We've also impressed upon Israel the imperative of having a
plan for Gaza for when the conflict ends, which we hope will be
as soon as possible, consistent with Israel's needs to defend
itself and make sure Oct. 7 can never happen again," Blinken
added.
Israel has said it will try to "flood" the Gaza Strip with
humanitarian aid from varied entry points, as global pressure
mounts to tackle the growing problem of hunger in the besieged
enclave.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores in Manila; Writing by Martin Petty,
Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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