US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said on Friday that "the ball is in the court" of the Hamas movement regarding agreeing to a ceasefire, with hopes of reaching a new truce in the war that has been ongoing for five months diminishing.

The day after US President Joe Biden called in his State of the Union address for an “immediate” six-week truce to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into the devastated Gaza Strip and the release of hostages, Blinken said that the matter depends on the leaders of Hamas.

When meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, he added, "The ball is in their court. We are working hard on that."

Blinken continued, "I have no doubt that reaching this ceasefire and releasing the hostages will be deeply in the interest of all concerned."

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the conditions in the Gaza Strip as deteriorating and requiring urgent action to end the suffering of innocent people.

He pointed out that the meeting of the strategic mechanism between the two countries began in 2021, and that within this framework, they will hold multiple talks that include security, regional cooperation, regional issues, trade, energy, and others.

He stated that many important regional developments are occurring at the same time, most notably the genocide practiced by Israel in Gaza.

Fidan said, "The deteriorating situation in Gaza requires us to focus on it. The international community has not been able to stop the suffering of innocent people. People in Gaza are in dire need of humanitarian aid."

He stressed the need for serious work by the United States and other countries to ensure a ceasefire and secure humanitarian aid to Gaza without interruption.

Mediators are making strenuous efforts to reach a truce before the month of Ramadan, which is expected to fall next Monday.

A senior Hamas official announced that its delegation had left Cairo, where it was participating in discussions regarding a truce in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the initial Israeli response did not meet the “minimum” of what the movement required.

The delegation left Cairo, where consultations have been held since Sunday, mediated by Egyptian, Qatari and American, to reach a truce in the war.