Washington sought President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's help to convince Hamas to return to the cease-fire negotiation table.

Axar.az reports that this was stated by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his farewell speech with journalists.

"Our diplomacy, our deterrence, really isolated Hamas to the point where they finally came to the – came back to the table, got to yes. In recent weeks, just to cite some other examples, when Hamas was refusing to engage in the fall, I went to our friends in Qatar and said: It’s time to tell them that their political operation housed in Qatar is no longer welcome. And that’s exactly what the Qataris did. In recent weeks, we went also to other actors, including Turkiye and President Erdogan, to use his weight and influence to get Hamas back to the table to try to conclude an agreement. And he did and they did," Blinken said.

It is worth noting that an agreement has been signed between Hamas and Israel in Gaza for a ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners and hostages.