Axios reported that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will head to the Middle East on Tuesday evening, on a tour that includes Qatar, Egypt and Israel, but it is not yet confirmed.

Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that the US Secretary of State will arrive in Israel this evening on a Middle East tour that will include Qatar and Egypt.

Axios quoted US and Israeli officials as saying that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant last Friday that he was considering visiting the Middle East this week.

These sources said that Blinken revealed to Galant that the purpose of his visit was to join efforts to cease fire in Gaza and avoid escalation.

She added that the chances of the US Secretary of State's visit will decrease if there is a major escalation in the Middle East this week, referring to a possible response by Iran to Israel's assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and by the Lebanese Hezbollah to the assassination of the prominent leader Fouad Shukr in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Last Thursday, the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and the United States called on Hamas and Israel to resume ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks on August 15 in Doha or Cairo.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted informed sources as saying that the upcoming round of negotiations next Thursday will not lead to a breakthrough, but rather aims to move the negotiations towards concluding a prisoner exchange deal, while Washington reiterated its call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Authority said, quoting its sources, that the stagnation of the exchange deal negotiations caused tension in the relationship between the Israeli negotiating delegation and the political level.

She added that the American movement that the region will witness aims to pressure Israel and Hamas to conclude the exchange deal.

A debate between Galant and Netanyahu

In remarkable statements made yesterday, Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant admitted for the first time that Israel is the one obstructing the reaching of a prisoner exchange deal, according to the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

Galant mocked the slogan of "absolute victory" that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu constantly raises, considering it to be nonsense and chatter.

Netanyahu responded to this through a statement from his office, accusing Galant of adopting an anti-Israel discourse.

Netanyahu considered that "Israel has only one choice: to achieve absolute victory, which means eliminating Hamas's military and governmental capabilities, and releasing the Israeli hostages, and this victory will be achieved."

The statement stressed that these are Prime Minister Netanyahu's clear directives to his government, and they are binding on everyone, including Galant.