US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia, his first stop in a wider tour of the Middle East as Washington tries to advance negotiations on a normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel as well as make progress on talks for the governance of postwar Gaza.
The top US diplomat’s fifth trip to the region since Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 assault comes at a particularly perilous moment amid retaliatory US strikes on Iran-backed militia across Syria, Iraq and Yemen in response to a drone strike last week in Jordan that killed three American troops and wounded dozens.
Blinken is also set to visit Egypt, Qatar and Israel later this week and push to advance the Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated conversations with Hamas to achieve a hostage deal.
In Riyadh, Blinken is expected to meet with the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as his Saudi counterpart, foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Is our live war coverage important to you?
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 5, 2024
