Doha (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could deteriorate and threaten security in the wider Middle East. During a joint presser with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Blinken said there was a risk the conflict could “metastasize”. The war began on October 7 when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel which resulted in about 1,140 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The militants also took around 250 hostages, 132 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israel. In response, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that have killed at least 22,835 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
