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Blinken will meet Saudi leaders in Jeddah and Egyptian leaders
in Cairo to discuss talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar on an
agreement as well as efforts to get more aid into Gaza, State
Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Talks on a ceasefire are resuming this week in Qatar, but weeks
of tough negotiations have yet to forge an agreement between
Israel and Hamas that Washington hopes will help alleviate the
humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza.
Blinken said he would also pursue conversations on arrangements
for governance, security and redevelopment of post-conflict
Gaza.
"We’ve been doing a lot of work since January, particularly with
our Arab partners, and we’ll be pursuing those conversations, as
well as discussing what is the right architecture for lasting
regional peace," Blinken said at a news conference during at a
previous stop in Manila.
The war was triggered when Hamas fighters crossed into Israel on
a rampage on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253
hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Nearly 32,000 people have been confirmed killed in Israel's
retaliatory onslaught, according to Palestinian health officials
in Hamas-run Gaza, with thousands more feared lost under the
rubble.
Blinken is not scheduled to visit Israel on this trip, despite
multiple visits to the U.S. ally on his previous regional swings
since Oct. 7.
Tensions have heightened between U.S. President Joe Biden's
administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Tuesday rebuffed Biden's plea to call
off a planned ground assault in the southern Gaza city of Rafah,
where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Howard
Goller)
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