US top diplomat Blinken to visit Israel on Friday, make other stops in region

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FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in Tel Aviv, Tuesday Oct. 17, 2023, after an overnight meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.     Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in October.

PHOTO: REUTERS

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WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the government there and then make other stops in the region, the State Department said on Tuesday amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Palestinian health officials said earlier that at least 50 Palestinians were killed when Israeli airstrikes

hit a refugee camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday,

as Israeli ground forces battled Hamas gunmen based in a sprawling tunnel network.

"Secretary Blinken will travel to Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the Israeli government, and then will make other stops in the region," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Earlier in October

, Mr Blinken visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. REUTERS

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