Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia this week to meet with regional partners as talks between Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked, the State Department announced over the weekend.
“The Secretary will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Saturday announcing Blinken’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia. “The Secretary will also emphasize the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and discuss ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.”
The State Department announced Sunday that the top American diplomat will also travel to Israel and Jordan. “He will discuss the recent increase in humanitarian assistance being delivered to Gaza and underscore the importance of ensuring that increase is sustained,” Miller said in an updated trip announcement.
Despite months of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt, Hamas and Israel have failed to reach an agreement on a deal aimed at releasing hostages and implementing a ceasefire in Gaza.
Blinken’s trip, set for Monday through Wednesday, comes after he met with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month in Jeddah to discuss efforts to release the hostages held by Hamas.
Blinken told CNN on Friday that it could be possible to roll out a framework for the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia along with a two-state solution proposal for Israel and the Palestinians before a ceasefire is in place.
“Ceasefire or not, we’ll continue to make these possibilities known. But in order to actually realize this, there’s going to have to be an end of the conflict in Gaza,” he said in an interview with CNN’s Kylie Atwood. “And as I said, there’s also going to have to be a resolution to the Palestinian question, or at least an agreement on how to resolve it.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Simone McCarthy contributed to this report.
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