By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Blinken ends latest Mideast mission after new Israeli snub of proposed Gaza ceasefire plan
preview.jpg
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, sits across the table as he meets with former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Gadi Eisenkot and former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. - photo by AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East on Thursday with public divisions between the United States and Israel at perhaps their worst level since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began in October. Wrapping up a four-nation Mideast trip — his fifth to the region since the conflict erupted — Blinken was returning to Washington after getting a virtual slap in the face from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the war would continue until Israel is completely victorious and appeared to reject outright a response from Hamas to a proposed cease-fire plan. Relations between Israel and its main international ally, the United States, have been tense for months, but Netanyahu's public dismissal of a plan the U.S. says has merit, at least as a starting point for further negotiation, highlighted the divide.