ISTANBUL (NEWSnet/AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his latest urgent Middle East diplomatic mission on Saturday in Turkey.

Blinken’s fourth visit within three months comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza, including in Lebanon, northern Israel, Red Sea and Iraq, that have put intense strain on what had been a U.S. push to prevent a regional conflagration.

Blinken met with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies. The goals are to ease soaring tension, speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin to plan for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza.

The difficulty of Blinken’s task was underscored hours before his talks with Erdogan as Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel, warning that the barrage was an initial response to the targeted killing of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanon’s capital earlier in the week.

In Istanbul, U.S. officials said Blinken would seek Turkiey's consideration of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts and some form of participation in a proposed multi-national force that could operate in or adjacent to the territory. Turkey, and Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

Blinken also will stress the importance the U.S. places on Turkey ratifying Sweden’s membership in NATO, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon. Sweden’s accession to the alliance is seen as a critical response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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