US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed on Tuesday that Washington will not accept an Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, expressing his hope that Hamas will agree to the latest proposal presented by the United States.

Blinken said upon his arrival in the Qatari capital, Doha: "The United States has long said that it does not accept a long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza."

The US Secretary added: "A ceasefire agreement in Gaza should be concluded in the coming days."

Blinken continued: "We will do everything possible in the coming days to convince Hamas to agree to the proposal to close the gaps."

He added: "I heard directly from Netanyahu (the Israeli Prime Minister) that Israel has accepted the proposal to close the gaps and I hope that Hamas will do the same."

He explained that "once Hamas agrees to the proposal to close the gaps, we will need to agree on implementing the details."

He stressed that the United States is working with Egypt and Qatar to ensure that the conflict does not escalate, and said: "We want to achieve a ceasefire agreement now and release the detainees from Gaza." The US Secretary of State also noted that Washington continues to work on implementing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.