US Secretary of State Blinken meets the Jordanian king in Amman.

As Israel is ready to launch a massive ground attack in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman on Friday. This was the second leg of his most comprehensive Middle East tour.

His demand comes a day after Blinken visited Israel and discussed the situation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The UN warned that carrying out his request “without devastating humanitarian consequences would be impossible.”

Following an attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists who rampaged through Israeli communities, murdering 1,200 Israelis, U.S. President Joe Biden sent his top ambassador to the area, immersed in its most severe escalation in years.

Since taking office in January 2021, Blinken’s tour of the area has grown to encompass all Gulf Arab nations, including Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.

The top American diplomat is scheduled to go to three other nations on Friday alone: Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, where he will spend the night. He will see Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, in Amman before flying to Doha.

At a news conference in Tel Aviv, Blinken stated, “Across each of these engagements, we’ll continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages.”

“We’ll also discuss how to keep working to realize our positive vision for a more united, economic, secure, and peaceful region. Indeed, that is the option, and in some respects, Hamas’s actions on Saturday have made the decision even more clear-cut.

At least 25 Americans, according to Washington, were murdered in the Hamas onslaught, and more are reportedly among the many captives transported to Gaza. Blinken accompanied Steve Gillen, the U.S. deputy special envoy for hostage affairs, who will remain in Israel to assist with efforts to liberate the hostages.

After Israel tightened a blockade on the territory, Gaza moved closer to a humanitarian catastrophe on Thursday as the death toll increased and essential supplies were depleted. Israel declared that until all captives had been released, there would be no humanitarian respite.

However, a land invasion of the Gaza Strip, now under Israeli siege and home to 2.3 million people, offers significant risks because Hamas holds many hostages taken during the attack.