Blinken meets with Turkish, Greek leaders as he tries to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from expanding

CHANIA, Greece (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the leaders of Turkey and Greece on Saturday during the opening stops of his latest Mideast diplomatic mission as fears grow that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza may expand into a broader conflict.

Blinken’s fourth visit in three months comes as developments in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful U.S. push to prevent a regional conflagration since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, and as international criticism of Israel’s military operation mounts.

Blinken held talks with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, in Istanbul about what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease tensions, speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin planning for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza. Much of the territory has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardments.

America’s top diplomat later stopped in Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, to see Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence. “These are difficult and challenging times,” Mitsotakis said.

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