Blinken will travel to Mideast amid US concern over violence
By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend in his first trip to the Middle East this year. It comes amid an escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence, U.S. concerns over the direction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government and ongoing issues with Egypt’s human rights record. The State Department said Thursday that Blinken would leave Washington on Saturday for stops in Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah. The announcement came just hours after an Israeli raid on suspected terrorists in the West Bank city of Jenin that Palestinian officials say killed nine people in the deadliest such incident this year.
