Blinken to travel to Israel, West Bank, Middle East for weeklong trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for a weeklong trip that includes stops in Israel and the West Bank, in addition to Turkey; Greece; Jordan; Qatar; the United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia; and Egypt over the next week.

The visit comes amid heightened concerns that the war in Gaza, now reaching the three-month mark, is spreading beyond Gaza after an Israeli drone strike killed a top Hamas official in Beirut and US forces killed 10 Houthi fighters as the Yemen-based group continues attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes against Israeli-linked vessels.

It also comes after the US put out a strongly-worded statement against Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who advocated for the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza to another country.