WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday for his seventh Middle East trip since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, setting off a war in Gaza that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and threatened to widen into a regional conflict.
Fresh from a visit to Beijing and Shanghai, the top U.S. diplomat will meet with regional counterparts amid a continued push for improvements to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the release of hostages held by Hamas, and a cease-fire.
The April 29-30 trip continues the Biden administration’s efforts to prevent the conflict from widening further, following repeated attacks by Iran-backed groups and an unprecedented direct strike on Israel by Iran, which ultimately was unsuccessful. Blinken will advocate for a path to an independent Palestinian state, which the Biden administration contends is the only path to lasting peace and stability for Israelis and Palestinians.
While in Riyadh, Blinken will participate in a Gulf Cooperation Council ministerial meeting “to advance coordination on regional security,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Saturday.
The secretary will attend a World Economic Forum meeting on global collaboration, where he will be interviewed on stage. At the same event, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are scheduled to participate in a panel discussion of the “Middle East Under Stress.”
