Amman, October 13 (RHC)-- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Jordan on Friday for talks with King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. 

Blinken will also visit Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend as he looks to secure the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas. 

His trip came after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon was not placing any conditions on its weapons shipments to Israel.  Pentagon chief Austin said: “This is a professional military led by professional leadership.  And we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign” -- while he refused to call for restraint by the Zionist "professionals."

Austin spoke Thursday from NATO headquarters in Brussels.  Today Austin is in Tel Aviv, where he pledged “ironclad” U.S. support for Israel during a meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.