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“Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel, and in this moment, the only thing ," he said at a World Economic Forum gathering in Riyadh.

"They have to decide, and they have to decide quickly. So, we’re looking to that, and I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision and we can have a fundamental change in the dynamic,� Blinken said.

Although talks continue, Hamas has so far balked at a series of offers and agreed to by Israel. Even without a deal, Blinken said it was critical to improve conditions in Gaza now.

“We’re also not waiting on a cease-fire to take the necessary steps to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,� Blinken told Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers earlier Monday, when he arrived in Saudi Arabia for the first stop on his Middle East tour, which includes stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We have seen measurable progress in the last few weeks, including the and increased volume of aid delivery to Gaza and within Gaza, and the building of the U.S. maritime corridor, which will open in the coming weeks. But it is not enough. We still need to get more aid in and around Gaza,� he said.

He said safety for humanitarian relief workers must be improved and that there's a focus on ensuring the aid is making a proper impact for Palestinian civilians.

Scores of relief workers have been killed since the conflict began, and an in Gaza this month that killed seven aid workers only highlighted the dangers and difficulties of protecting them. Israel has said the strike was a mistake and has .

World Central Kitchen said it would resume operations in Gaza on Monday after a four-week suspension.

Blinken, who also is meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, has his work cut out for him.

The war in Gaza has ground on with little end in sight: More than 34,000 , hundreds of thousands more are displaced and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening.

The conflict has fueled mass protests around the world that have . U.S. support for Israel, particularly arms transfers, has come under particular criticism, something the administration is keenly aware poses potential problems for U.S. President Joe Biden in an election year.

Blinken's trip comes as there are renewed concerns about the conflict spreading in the Middle East and with once-promising prospects for Israeli-Saudi rapprochement effectively on hold as Israel refuses to consider one of the Saudis' main conditions for normalized relations: the .

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have fled to escape fighting farther north. Israel has not yet launched such an offensive, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that one will take place, asserting that it is the .

Both topics were discussed during a Biden-Netanyahu phone call on Sunday, according to the White House and U.S. officials.

During his trip, Blinken said he would also underscore the absolute importance of not allowing the Israel-Hamas conflict to .

The danger of conflagration was underscored this month when a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria prompted an unprecedented direct . An apparent retaliatory followed.

Although the tit-for-tat cycle appears to have ended for now, deep concerns remain that Iran or its proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria or Yemen could act in such a way as to provoke a greater response from Israel or that Israel might take action that Iran feels it must retaliate for.

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