Istanbul, Turkey - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey on Friday for his fourth trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began, expecting tough talks as he presses for immediate new aid to battered Gaza and regional de-escalation.

The diplomat will visit both Israel and the West Bank, home of the Palestinian Authority, and five Arab countries – Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said.

Blinken will hold talks in Istanbul on Saturday with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the Muslim world's harshest critics of US support for Israel in the war.

Joke of the Day Joke of the Night for November 20, 2024: The best jokes to laugh the day away

"We don't expect every conversation on this trip to be easy. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

"But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head-on," he said.

Blinken has used previous trips to try to stop the war from spreading, but he returns to a region that has seen attacks in or from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Iran.

A strike inside Lebanon widely assumed to have been carried out by Israel killed a top Hamas leader on Tuesday, and Iran-backed Huthi rebels have been firing on ships in the Red Sea in avowed solidarity with Gaza.

Iran was hit Wednesday by one of the deadliest attacks since its 1979 Islamic revolution, with twin blasts killing at least 84 people gathered to commemorate a slain Revolutionary Guards general.

Tehran initially blamed Israel and the United States, although the Islamic State group later claimed responsibility and US officials rejected any US or Israeli role.

President Joe Biden's administration has provided crucial support for Israel since it suffered its deadliest-ever attack on October 7 when Hamas fighters streamed across the militarized border and killed around 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The United States has twice exercised its veto at the UN Security Council against ceasefire calls, drawing outrage in the Arab world. Just days ago, Blinken bypassed Congress for the second time to rush weapons to Israel.

But Biden has also openly voiced exasperation at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he pursues a relentless retaliatory offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, much of which has been reduced to rubble.

Daily Horoscope Today's horoscope: Free daily horoscope for Thursday, November 21, 2024

More than 22,400 people in Gaza have died according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and the vast majority of residents of the impoverished and blockaded territory have been forced from their homes.

The Biden administration has taken credit for coaxing Israel on several aid issues, including allowing limited gas and commercial trucks to enter Gaza. Another concern for the Biden administration has been calls by far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet for Palestinians to be encouraged to leave the Gaza Strip en masse.

Blinken is also likely to press Israel to stop blocking the transfer of tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority, a longstanding arrangement that is opposed by Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Washington sees a future in the Gaza Strip for the Palestinian Authority, whose ruling Fatah faction is the rival of Hamas, but Netanyahu has long sought to weaken the semi-autonomous body and opposes the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.

Blinken will also pay a brief visit on Saturday to Greece as the country is jittery about an expected US sale of advanced F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, its historic adversary.