Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed efforts to expand aid to Gaza with his Turkish counterpart. Blinken has been on a regional tour of the Middle East as the U.S. faces pressure to secure a pause in fighting amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Pool/AFP/GettyThe U.S. is dialing up pressure on Israel to ease its intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip, deploying a wave of top diplomats to the Middle East in recent days, even without the release of hostages taken by Hamas, which Israel has set as the condition for any pause in its military operations. President Biden, in a phone call Monday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , urged the Israeli leader to declare a humanitarian pause, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

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Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Jonathan Ernst, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, John Kirby Organizations: Turkish, Getty, White, National Security Locations: Gaza, U.S, Israel