A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making his third trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. His trip began at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where Blinken said diplomatic work by the U.S. is responsible for the current pause in the fighting in Gaza.
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ANTONY BLINKEN: We’ll be focused on making – doing what we can to extend the pause so that we can continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR’s Michele Kelemen is traveling with the secretary. She joins us now. Michele, so what is he hoping to accomplish on this latest trip to the Middle East?
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Yeah, so he’s going to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he’ll meet with Palestinian officials. And he has a few goals, A. The U.S. wants to expand the hostage…
