GAZA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel today, where he is expected to press for what he called an “essential” truce agreement as the offensive on Gaza enters its fifth month.

According to AFP, the diplomat is due to meet Israel’s leaders as part of a Middle East crisis tour after earlier stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 100 people were killed overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Around 8,000 displaced people had been evacuated from the besieged Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, where they had sought refuge, after weeks of heavy shelling and fighting nearby, according to the Red Cross.

Saudi Arabia has told Washington it will not establish ties with Israel until an independent Palestinian state “is recognised”, the Gulf kingdom’s foreign ministry said in a statement according to AFP.

“The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to the US administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognised on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” read the statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Israeli “aggression” in Gaza must also stop and all Israeli forces must withdraw from the besieged territory, the statement said.