US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the US is “continuing to work every day on increasing the flow of assistance into Gaza and making sure it gets to people who need it within Gaza, working to improve civilian protection, working to release the hostages, Al Jazeera reports.

“The single most effective and most immediate way to end the suffering of people in Gaza, to end suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike, is to tackle the human assistance crisis, to protect conflict from escalating and spreading to other places is to get a ceasefire,” he said.

He lauded Qatar’s efforts, saying: “Qatar has been a tireless partner in working to mediate a ceasefire and a hostage release.”