Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use his current Middle East tour to end Israel’s “aggression” as the ongoing conflict rages in Gaza, AFP reports.

In a video message posted late Friday on Hamas’s social media channels, Haniyeh said he hoped Blinken had “learned the lessons of the last three months” during which Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza in an effort to destroy the Islamist group.

US support for Israel’s military campaign “has caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people in Gaza”, Haniyeh said.

“We… hope that he will be more focused this time on ending the aggression” as well as “the occupation of all Palestinian lands”, the Qatar-based Hamas chief added.

Haniyeh also urged regional leaders due to meet Blinken to tell him that stability in the Middle East was “closely linked to our Palestinian cause”.