ISTANBUL 

Gaza cease-fire talks are expected to resume in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al Thani, Blinken said Gaza negotiators will convene “soon.”

"We talked about options to capitalize on this moment and next steps to move the process forward, and I anticipate that our negotiators will be getting together in the coming days," he added.

The top US diplomat said Washington "reject any effort to create a siege, to starve people, to hive off northern Gaza from the rest of Gaza." He announced additional $135 in US humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,800 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.