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)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Chris Kreider had a third-period hat trick to help the New York Rangers erase a two-goal deficit and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 6 on Thursday night to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
Kreider single-handedly erased the Hurricanes' 3-1 lead entering the final period. The go-ahead score came when he got position on Jalen Chatfield at the top of the crease and tipped in Ryan Lindgren's pass to make it 4-3 with at the 15:41 mark.
That finally allowed the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers to put away the Hurricanes, who had won two straight after falling into a 3-0 hole in the best-of-7 series. The Hurricanes appeared on the verge of forcing a Game 7 for a pressure-packed finale, but couldn't contain Kreider and the Rangers' surge in the final 14 minutes.
Barclay Goodrow finished this one off by getting to a loose puck near the boards and scoring a long empty-net goal in the final minute, sending Goodrow to the nearby Rangers bench to be mobbed by teammates.
That sent the Rangers on to the Eastern Conference Final to face the Boston-Florida winner, with the Panthers leading that series 3-2.
Kreider’s first goal came when he cleaned up a stop by Frederik Andersen on Mika Zibanejad at the 6:43 mark to make it 3-2. He followed by tipping in a shot by Artemi Panarin to tie it at the 11:54 mark.
Igor Shesterkin hung in after a pressured first two periods, finishing with 33 saves and coming up with a big stop on Jordan Staal near the crease and another tying chance from Andrei Svechnikov off a faceoff win in the third period.
Vincent Trocheck also scored off a deflection in the second period for New York.
Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina, while Andersen finished with 19 saves.
The Hurricanes also missed on multiple late chances to increase their lead, with Jordan Martinook — who had a highlight-reel sliding effort to knock away a loose puck from the goal line midway through the second period — and Jake Guentzel each pinging the metal past Shesterkin to come up empty.
There was also a big opportunity in the third when two Rangers collided and fell to the ice in their own end, leaving top Carolina center Sebastian Aho with a 1-on-1 chance on Shesterkin. But as Aho skated in from the left circle, he went wide right of the net as he tried to move to his backhand.
Those missed chances added up to a brutal exit for the Hurricanes, a team that was in the playoffs for the sixth time in as many seasons under Rod Brind'Amour and has been open about the goal of breaking through to win the Stanley Cup.
Carolina finished three points behind the Rangers for the Presidents’ Trophy awarded to the top team in the regular-season standings, and entered the NHL playoffs as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, according to Bet MGM Sportsbook. But the Rangers won the first three games by one-goal margins — two coming in overtime — to threaten an unexpectedly quick resolution.
Carolina successfully beat back their power-play struggles for the Game 4 winner to stay alive, then rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four straight third-period goals to win Game 5 in Madison Square Garden and bring the series back to Raleigh.
But days later, the Rangers returned the favor with four straight of their own in the third, leaving a boisterous Hurricanes crowd in stunned disbelief.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) celebrates his goal, next to New York Rangers' Jimmy Vesey (26) during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers' Vincent Trocheck (16) controls the puck in front of Carolina Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers' Barclay Goodrow (21) moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes' Dmitry Orlov (7) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers' Jonny Brodzinski (22) moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes' Tony DeAngelo (77) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Brady Skjei (76) protects the puck from New York Rangers' Barclay Goodrow (21) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers' Ryan Lindgren (55) lands on top of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Martin Necas (88) shoots against New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) blocks a Carolina Hurricanes shot during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Frederik Andersen (31) blocks the shot of New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad, right rear, as Chris Kreider (20) waits for a rebound with Hurricanes' Seth Jarvis (24) nearby during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad, back right, and Vincent Trocheck (16) celebrate a goal by Chris Kreider on Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen during the third period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Rangers' Chris Kreider, second from right, celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes with teammates during the third period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
