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US secretary of state arrives in Turkey for talks with president during first leg of trip including Israel and West Bank amid mounting fears of wider regional conflict
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Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Middle East crisis. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a rundown on the latest news as it turns 9am in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is to discuss the war in Gaza with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Saturday amid mounting fears the conflict could widen to engulf other parts of the Middle East.
Israeli officials are scrambling to head off mounting frustration in Washington in the run-up to a potentially difficult meeting between Blinken and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by offering a series of policy proposals on Gaza that critics say lack detail or commitment. The US has staunchly supported Israel in its war against Hamas but is keen to secure concessions from Netanyahu to lower regional tensions and help avert a wider conflict.
The UN humanitarian chief says has described Gaza as now “uninhabitable” after relentless bombing by Israeli forces. Martin Griffiths said a “public health disaster is unfolding” in the territory as people faced “the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded”, adding: “Famine is around the corner.”
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