Blinken pushes for peace talks

Following an 11-day battle between Palestinian militants and the Israeli military, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to work with regional partners on humanitarian efforts and rebuilding the Gaza Strip, President Joe Biden said. Blinken left for the Middle East on Monday to restart long-stalled peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

What’s on the itinerary? Blinken will visit with leaders in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt this week. He will not see anyone from Hamas, the U.S.-designated “foreign terrorist organization” that controls Gaza. The United States bans contact between U.S. officials and the group, relying on third countries like Egypt and Qatar to pass messages to Hamas.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s column about the severity of the most recent round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.