US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is expected to undertake a Middle Eastern tour at the end of the week, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank.

This will be Blinken's fourth visit to the region and the fifth to Israel since the beginning of the war on Gaza. He is expected to meet in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and members of the war cabinet, according to what the Walla website reported today, Wednesday.

Walla quoted Israeli, American and Arab sources as saying that Blinken will discuss the war on Gaza during his tour. The visit comes as part of ongoing visits by American officials to Israel since the beginning of the war.

Blinken met in Washington yesterday with the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer. Dermer also met with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

A White House official said that Sullivan and Dermer discussed a plan for the “day after” after the Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza.

The same official added that Sullivan and Dermer discussed efforts to conclude a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, move Israel to another phase of the war, and bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

He continued that the Blinken-Dermer meeting discussed focusing on high-value Hamas targets, and planning for the aftermath of the war on Gaza, including the governance mechanism.