Blinken says daily toll in Gaza too high, Israel genocide charge meritless

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday the United States believes South Africa's genocide charge against Israel is "meritless," but the daily toll of war on civilians in Gaza is far too high.

Blinken made the comment at a press conference after talks in Tel Aviv with Israeli leaders.

Blinken said Palestinians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow and cited an agreement on a plan for the United Nations to carry out an assessment mission in Gaza.

Blinken said the United States rejected any proposals advocating a resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza and stressed that the Palestinian authority has responsibility to reform itself.

Blinken, who visited several other countries in the Middle East this week, also said that many countries in the Middle East are ready to invest in the future of Gaza, but only with a clear pathway to a Palestinian state.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Doina Chiacu and David Brunnstrom; editing by Deepa Babington)