US top diplomat Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for a week of diplomacy on Israel’s war in Gaza, visiting Israel and the West Bank, as well as Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt over the next week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
The visit comes amid heightened concerns the nearly three-month-old conflict is spreading beyond Gaza, drawing in the West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, and Red Sea shipping lanes.