NEW YORK, March 20. /TASS/. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant will hold a meeting in the US next week, CNN reported, citing a US defense official.

According to the source, the sides will discuss a range of issues, including efforts to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas, the need for increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and plans to secure the more than one million people sheltering in Rafah.

Earlier, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said that talks between the US and Israel on the Rafah operation could take place in Washington early next week.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.