WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East on his seventh diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began more than six months ago, the State Department said Saturday.
Blinken is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday, just two days since arriving back in Washington after a trip to China. Blinken will attend a World Economic Forum conference and meet with 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 Mideast trip, on the heels of meetings in China with President Xi Jinping and other high-ranking officials, comes as the war grinds on, with more than 34,000 Palestinians killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and a steadily worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. In the surprise attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the war, about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 people abducted.
U.S.-backed efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in exchange for the release of the hostages have failed. On Saturday, Hamas said it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a cease-fire as Egypt stepped up efforts to broker a deal to end the war and avert a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. A Hamas official gave no details of the offer. Negotiations earlier this month centered on a six-week cease-fire plan and the release of 40 civilian and sick hostages in exchange for freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Since mid-October, Blinken has shuttled between Israel and its most of its Arab and Muslim neighbors, trying to boost aid to civilians in Gaza, prevent the conflict from spreading throughout the region and build support for plans for the reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza — all while vocally backing Israel’s right to defend itself.
Israel's offensive in Gaza has heightened political pressure in the U.S., with pro-Palestinian protests springing up at universities and resulting pushback from some who say the demonstrations have veered into antisemitism.
Blinken and other American official 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 into Gaza have increased but are not at the level to prevent what the United Nations says is looming famine, and Arab nations have agreed to back evolving plans for Gaza’s future.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken “will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a cease-fire.” Blinken will stress the importance of keeping the conflict from spreading and discuss efforts “to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.”
Israel is plowing ahead with preparations to attack Rafah, and the conflict has escalated, in particular after a suspected Israeli attack on Iran's consulate in Syria. Iran retaliated with drone, ballistic and cruise missile launches, provoking an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran.
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Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in China, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he prepares to return to the U.S. following a visit to China, Friday, April 26, 2024, at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — When West Virginia Republicans vote in Tuesday's primary, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Embracing or skirting the line on election denialism has become an unspoken checkoff among Republicans running for governor and Congress in one of the states most loyal to former President Donald Trump. What is spoken — almost constantly — is praise for the party's presumptive White House nominee from a slate of candidates that includes a convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionist as well as the sons of two GOP members of West Virginia's congressional delegation.
Glenn Elliott, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for an open Senate seat, said denying the election outcome was a “purity test" for West Virginia Republicans.
“You’re either with the leader of the party on everything, or you’re kicked out. You’re not a Republican anymore, you’re a ‘RINO,’” he said, using the acronym for “Republicans In Name Only.” "That’s not a party — that’s a cult.”
It's about the worst thing you can call a Republican candidate in West Virginia.
In the crowded governor’s race, Secretary of State Mac Warner has said he “firmly” believes, like Trump, that the election was stolen, even though dozens of courts and audits have determined the race was fairly decided in Biden's favor.
Warner, whose office oversees West Virginia's elections, has said tech companies, the media and federal intelligence officials worked together to cover up incriminating information found on the laptop of Biden’s son Hunter. Warner's statements came a few months after announcing his campaign after years of toeing the line on the 2020 election. The Army veteran said his views have nothing to do with running for office.
“Donald Trump won West Virginia in a landslide,” former state lawmaker Moore Capito, another candidate for governor, said in response to a question from The Associated Press. “And I just wish that the rest of the country would run our elections like we do here in the state of West Virginia.”
Other candidates hedge or do not answer directly.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has refused to provide a yes or no answer to questions about whether Biden won the 2020 race but has asserted that there were “huge irregularities,” “significant irregularities,” and “very, very severe issues” relating to that vote.
Businessman Chris Miller, also a candidate for governor and the son of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, said people do not trust mail-in ballots. He did not say whether he thought Biden was the legitimate winner.
"If you are voting in-person and see your vote cast, that’s one thing," he said. With mail-in ballots, he added, “You can’t see it. You don’t know what’s happened, and that’s the danger."
Derrick Evans, a former state lawmaker who spent three months in prison for participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has escalated his verbal attacks against his primary rival. He calls Carol Miller a “commie RINO” who “refused to stand and fight with President Trump,” as well as an “undocumented Democrat.”
Never mind that Miller was aligned with Trump in almost 100% of her House votes while he was in office.
Evans, in an interview, said he believes his willingness to stand by Trump and say the election was stolen will carry him to victory — even though Miller, hours after Evans and other rioters had stormed the Capitol, voted to challenge the Electoral College results in two states Biden won.
She said in a statement at the time that she had a constitutional duty to “ensure that all Americans have access to free, fair, and accurate elections.”
Evans is undeterred, claiming his role in the violent attack on the Capitol as a badge of honor.
“I think when the people learn I’m the only elected legislator in the entire country who had the courage to stand up against the stolen election and had the courage to stand up beside of President Trump on Jan. 6," he said, “I think that that makes them realize very seriously that I am the guy to represent this district on a national stage.”
In an email to the AP, Carol Miller did not directly address the 2020 result. But she said she is the only candidate in the race who "has never been a registered Democrat or run for office as a Democrat.”
In the West Virginia governor's race, all four major candidates are in lockstep on supporting the state’s coal industry, imposing stiffer penalties for fentanyl dealers and the importance of economic development.
Morrisey, the fundraising front-runner, tossed the “RINO” label at Capito, who is regarded as his main competitor. Morrissey cited a February 2024 social media post from Donald Trump Jr. criticizing a vote by Capito's mother, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, to send aid to Ukraine. “She’s not up for reelection this year, but her RINO son is running for Governor of West Virginia," Trump Jr. said. “MAGA – Send a message to the Ukraine First RINOs & OPPOSE,” he said, referring to Donald Trump's “Make American Great Again” movement.
Morrisey, in an interview, connected the dots.
“I think the choice is very clear: You have a conservative fighter with a record of getting big things done, and you have members of political royalty, part of the liberal establishment,” Morrisey said.
Moore Capito has since taken every opportunity to make sure voters know where his loyalty lies. In a Republican gubernatorial forum hosted by television station WSAZ, candidates were asked what they could do to help people on fixed incomes struggling to pay their bills amid frequent utility rate increases.
“That’s why it’s incredibly important that we elect Donald Trump as president,” Capito said, after condemning a recently released Biden administration rule that would force coal-fired power plants to capture their emissions or shut down.
Ironically, Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who is running for the Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Joe Manchin, is the only candidate to garner the coveted Trump endorsement in any primary race. And Justice has disagreed with Trump more than most candidates. For example, the governor supported the bipartisan infrastructure act that poured millions of dollars into the state to build out broadband and roads.
Alex Mooney, a congressman running against Justice in the primary, has called Justice a “RINO” at every opportunity. Justice, a former billionaire businessman with a folksy personality that has won him a devoted following, was initially elected as a Democrat in 2017 before becoming a Republican at a Trump rally early in his term. Mooney voted against the infrastructure bill.
Mooney has said he recognizes Biden as president but feels the 2020 election was not a fair one. He voted not to certify Biden's victory in Pennsylvania.
Justice, asked during a news briefing this past week whether he thinks Biden won legitimately, took a defiant tone even as he hedged: “What does it matter? I mean, what in the world does it matter?"
The governor then spun a story he hass told often about something his father told him when he was competing in golf tournaments as a young man.
“Dad would tell me, ‘Son, the only shot that matters in golf is the next shot. If you made a hole in one as your last shot, well, so what?"
FILE - U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., is shown Feb. 5, 2020, during a subcommittee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Miller is seeking the Republican nomination in West Virginia's 1st Congressional District against challenger Derrick Evans on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his annual State of the State address in the House Chambers of the state Capitol, Jan. 11, 2023, in Charleston, W.Va. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)
FILE - West Virginia gubernatorial candidate Mac Warner speaks to supporters at a campaign event at the Charleston Women's Club in Charleston, W.Va., Thursday, May 4, 2023. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
FILE - West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey speaks during a press conference at the state Capitol, Thursday, May 4, 2023 in Charleston, W.Va. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
FILE - Rep. Alex Mooney, a Republican candidate for U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, addresses a campaign rally at the Westmoreland Fair Grounds in Greensburg, Pa., May 6, 2022. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE - In this image provided by the West Virginia Legislative Photography, Derrick Evans is shown during his swearing-in ceremony to the West Virginia House of Delegates on Dec. 1, 2020, in Charleston, W.Va. When West Virginia Republican primary voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 14, 2024, they'll have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges U.S. President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.(Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography via AP, File)
CORRECTS SPELLING TO MORRISEY NOT MORRISERY FILE - West Virginia gubernatorial candidates, from left, Mac Warner, Chris Miller, moderator and MetroNews Radio host Hoppy Kercheval, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, speaking, and Moore Capito participate in a GOP debate held at The Resort at Glade Springs, Feb. 6, 2024, in Daniels, W.Va. When West Virginia Republicans vote in the primary on Tuesday, May 14, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. (Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald via AP, File)
