Live Update
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Blinken adds Israel stop to Mideast tour, will visit Friday
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has added a stop in Israel to his sixth Mideast tour since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, a US official tells The Times of Jsrael.
Blinken will visit Israel on Friday after spending Wednesday in Saudi Arabia and Thursday in Egypt.
In each stop, he will discuss talks to secure a ceasefire of at least six weeks through a hostage deal as well as efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, the US official says.