U.S. Secretary for State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday to meet with regional partners and discuss efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, the State Department said on Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures, as he and his wife Evan Ryan board a plane at the U.S. Naval Support Activity base, after the G7 foreign ministers summit on Capri island, in Naples, Italy, April 19, 2024. Reuters/Ciro De Luca
U.S. Secretary for State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday to meet with regional partners and discuss efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, the State Department said on Saturday.
"He will discuss the recent increase in humanitarian assistance being delivered to Gaza and underscore the importance of ensuring that increase is sustained," the State Department said in a statement.
"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."
Reporting By Lucia Mutikani and Eric Beech
U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to make Saudi Arabia his first foreign stop of his second term, with a high-stakes visit expected in mid-May, according to Axios, citing U.S. officials and a source familiar with the trip.
The General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque (Saudi Arabia) has reported that a total of 122,286,712 worshippers visited the holy sites during the month of Ramadan 1446 AH.
Israel has proposed an extended truce in Gaza in exchange for the return of about half the remaining hostages, Israeli officials said on Monday, as the military issued new evacuation orders and said "intense operations" were planned in the south of the enclave.
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