The Latest | Blinken in Israel to tell its leaders ‘the time is now’ for a cease-fire in Gaza

By The Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel for meetings with Israeli leaders and has told the country’s ceremonial president that “the time is now” for a cease-fire deal in the war in Gaza. This is Blinken’s seventh visit since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October. He is trying to advance a truce that would free hostages held by Gaza’s Hamas militants in exchange for a halt to the fighting. Palestinian prisoners are also expected to be released as part of the deal. Israel’s war against Hamas has flattened huge swaths of Gaza’s north, and famine is imminent for the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain there.