if(){} statements aren't considered loop blocks, and next isn't affected by your being within an if(){} statement. It will still jump to the next loop iteration.

However, it may simply be less ambiguous to code readers / maintainers if you explicitly specify where to next to, using a label on your while loop:

LOOP_NAME: while( ... ) {
    ....
    next LOOP_NAME unless .....;
}
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