Will be Secretary of State’s fifth crisis trip to the Middle East WASHINGTON D.C.: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East from Sunday to Thursday to work for the release of hostages still held by Hamas and to secure a humanitarian pause, the State Department said Friday. On his fifth crisis trip to the Middle East, Blinken will visit Qatar and Egypt, the mediators of the proposal, as well as Israel and the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, the State Department added. On Friday, Blinken held a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan. During the call, they discussed developments in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings, and ongoing efforts to deal with the security and humanitarian repercussions of the war in the Palestinian enclave. * With AFP