The Latest | Blinken holds talks on Gaza in the wake of Israeli rescue raid and Palestinian deaths

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a new visit to the region on Monday in the shadow of the dramatic rescue of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza and turmoil in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, but neither made public remarks. Blinken will also travel to Israel, Jordan and Qatar.

While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other U.S. officials have praised the hostage rescue, the operation resulted in the deaths of a large number of Palestinian civilians and may complicate a cease-fire push by emboldening Israel and hardening Hamas’ resolve to carry on fighting in the war it initiated with its Oct. 7 attack into Israel.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 36,730 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Palestinians are facing widespread hunger because the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies. U.N. agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.

Currently:

— Blinken returns to Mideast as Israel-Hamas cease-fire proposal hangs in balance after hostage rescue

— How an Israeli raid freed 4 hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians in Gaza

— What does Israel’s rescue of 4 captives, and the killing of 274 Palestinians, mean for truce talks?

— Centrist Benny Gantz is quitting Israel’s war Cabinet, citing frustrations with Netanyahu

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at