Top diplomat Blinken will visit the Mideast again this coming week. What can he achieve this time?

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East for his seventh diplomatic mission to the region since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began more than six months ago, the State Department said Saturday.

Blinken travels to Saudi Arabia on Monday, just two days after returning to Washington following a trip to China. Blinken will attend a World Economic Forum conference and meet Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official says Blinken will visit Israel on Tuesday, a stop not mentioned in the State Department’s announcement about Blinken’s itinerary.

His latest trip to the Middle East, hot on the heels of meetings in China with President Xi Jinping and other senior officials, comes as the war rages on, with more than 34,000 Palestinians killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the war, killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250.

US-backed efforts to broker a ceasefire in exchange for the release of the hostages have failed. On Saturday, Hamas said it was reviewing a new Israeli ceasefire proposal, while Egypt stepped up efforts to strike a deal to end the war and a possible Israeli ground offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah to avert. A Hamas official did not provide details about the offer. Negotiations earlier this month focused on a plan for a six-week ceasefire and the release of 40 civilian and sick hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Since mid-October, Blinken has been shuttling between Israel and most of its Arab and Muslim neighbors, trying to increase aid to civilians in Gaza, prevent the conflict from spreading across the region and build support for reconstruction plans and the governance of post-war Gaza. – while at the same time vocally supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has increased political pressure in the US, with pro-Palestinian protests popping up at universities and a resulting backlash from some who say the demonstrations have turned into anti-Semitism.

Blinken and other US officials have tried to dissuade Israel from mounting a large-scale military operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have fled to escape the fighting.

He has had limited success. Aid shipments to Gaza have increased but are not at levels that could prevent a threat of famine, according to the United Nations, and Arab countries have agreed to support evolving plans for Gaza’s future.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken will discuss “the ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages, and how it is Hamas that stands between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire is in place.” Blinken will emphasize the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and will discuss efforts “to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a path to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.”

Israel continues preparations to attack Rafah, and the conflict has escalated, especially after a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria. Iran retaliated with drone, ballistic and cruise missile launches, triggering an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran.

—-

Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.