US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was returning Monday to Israel after talks in six Arab states, hoping to coordinate efforts against Hamas while finding ways to alleviate Gaza’s looming humanitarian crisis.

Just four days after he paid a lightning visit to Tel Aviv to show solidarity, Blinken was expected to meet Israeli leaders in Jerusalem as Israel prepares a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

“I want an opportunity to share everything that I’ve heard – that I’ve learned – over the last few days visiting with our other partners and to talk about the way forward with our Israeli allies and friends,” Blinken told reporters Sunday in Cairo.

The trip comes as President Joe Biden reportedly considers an invitation to visit Israel to demonstrate further what the US leader has described as unwavering solidarity.

Israel has declared war on Hamas after the Islamist militants’ fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Israel has responded with relentless bombing, killing at least 2,670 people, the majority ordinary Palestinians, in the blockaded and impoverished Gaza Strip.

US officials say Blinken heard wide opposition to Hamas from leaders during his tour – but also concern on the plight of the Palestinians.

“I made clear that it cannot be – must not be – business as usual with Hamas going forward,” Blinken said in Cairo.

“And at the same time, as I said, we’re determined to do everything we can to address the needs of people in Gaza,” he said.

“Civilians should not have to suffer for Hamas’s atrocities.”